In November, I made a couple one-day trips to Nairobi for meetings. For each trip, I hauled my laptop because I needed to access to email and to be able to work on some documents. I also carried along my iPad because it contains all my reading materials (books, magazines, PDF documents, newspapers). Ensuring Internet access comes in the form of a small 3G USB modem.*
* Not all hotels and guest houses have Internet access. On the first trip, I forgot the modem and was lucky that the guest house had high-speed Internet access. Lucked out that time. On the second trip, I made sure to pack the modem and sure enough the other guest house provided no Internet service.
During the second trip, I started wondering if I could get by with just my iPad. Though the iPad is not a replacement for a laptop, I wondered if I could make do with it for short trips. For this to work, the iPad should allow me to accomplish two things; edit documents in a word processor and access the Internet.
Getting a word processor is not a problem, there are text editors and word processors available for the iPad and given my needs I opted to purchase Pages for the iPad. It is a good basic word processor that does pretty much what I need.*
* Well, I hope it does, I'll follow up with a full review of Pages as a basic travel word processor.
Internet access is another matter. Unfortunately I don't have a 3G iPad, I have the WiFi version. When I bought my iPad, I opted against buying the 3G version. I did this because I did not know if I would have the iPad in my hands before leaving for Kenya and I wasn't sure of the 3G support here.*
* As it happened, 3G iPads were arriving about the time I was leaving and 3G coverage in Kenya via Safaricom is pretty good.
The 3G modem will not work here because the iPad does not have a USB port (even if it did, I doubt that it would support a 3G modem). My iPhone does have support for WiFi tethering, but for what ever reason, Apple does not enable this feature.* Bluetooth tethering doesn't work either, Apple doesn't allow the iPhone to connect to the iPad via Bluetooth. I could jailbreak my iPhone and install MyWi ( non-approved iPhone application) and then I could tether my iPad to the iPhone. However, I really don't want to jailbreak the phone right now.**
* Evidently Android phones can do this, but until the Android is as classy, neat and as easy to use as the iPhone, I'll pass.
** Hats off to the iPhone Dev Team for the great work they do to allow folks to jailbreak their iPhones. With their work, I was able to jailbreak and unlock my previous iPhone (a 3GS) when I first came to Kenya. The only reason why I jailbroke my 3GS was to unlock it. I now have a factory unlocked iPhone 4, so the only reason to jail break the phone is to install MyWi.
What I really need to solve my connectivity problems is a MiFi device.* The MiFi is a portable HotSpot that uses an Edge or 3G "cellular" network to give users access to the Internet. It is a pretty neat device; small, battery operated and would allow the iPad to access the Internet.** So, I'm on a quest to find a MiFi in Kenya. Who knows if they have arrived in Kenya.
* I suppose I could just buy a new iPad with 3G support and I plan to as soon as the 2nd generation iPads are released.
** I had access to one in New York and we let our faculty use them when there were on the road. Most everyone liked them.
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Upcoming Blog Ideas
So, there has been a backlog in my mind of things I would like to blog about. So in the next few weeks, I look forward to sharing some things that have been going on here in Kenya. For example....
Thanksgiving in Kenya
Traveling light
Capturing household level data
Inventory and stock management
Update on the clavicle (I can throw)
Project Management Software
Network problems
Multi-tasking on the iPad
(A late) 4 month review
The Holiday Season
Holiday Calendars
The Mets Front Office
I'm sure there are more topics that I'll come up, but right now I am enjoying a few minutes on our balcony and I'm not too keen on the idea of thinking. I just want to enjoy my cookie and cold ginger ale.
Thanksgiving in Kenya
Traveling light
Capturing household level data
Inventory and stock management
Update on the clavicle (I can throw)
Project Management Software
Network problems
Multi-tasking on the iPad
(A late) 4 month review
The Holiday Season
Holiday Calendars
The Mets Front Office
I'm sure there are more topics that I'll come up, but right now I am enjoying a few minutes on our balcony and I'm not too keen on the idea of thinking. I just want to enjoy my cookie and cold ginger ale.
Circling Back
It has been way too long since I have posted here. If anyone is left reading or following, thank you. I can't guarantee that I'll be more diligent in posting, but I promise to do better.
Over the last couple of months things have really exploded here, the level of work here has gone into the stratosphere. I find myself constantly moving from project to project, meeting to meeting. I rotate through things and then it will be a number weeks before getting back to the beginning.
This week I was tasked with creating a proposal for a new project.* It was critical to get the proposal out by then end of the week so the funder could act on it before their fiscal year ended. This meant that I had to put all other work on hold to get things done. We did get the proposal finished and I was pleased with the results.
* It actually started last week and ran through most of this week. The project is securing and implementing a Pharmacy Information Management System (PIMS). Common sense told me some basic feature of a PIMS, but it took some research to really identify the key features and functions of a PIMS. We have a basic system at AMPATH, but as we move in to primary health care, we need something more robust. The proposal was a request for funding to help us identify and plan the optimal solution for our environment.
Over the last couple of months things have really exploded here, the level of work here has gone into the stratosphere. I find myself constantly moving from project to project, meeting to meeting. I rotate through things and then it will be a number weeks before getting back to the beginning.
This week I was tasked with creating a proposal for a new project.* It was critical to get the proposal out by then end of the week so the funder could act on it before their fiscal year ended. This meant that I had to put all other work on hold to get things done. We did get the proposal finished and I was pleased with the results.
* It actually started last week and ran through most of this week. The project is securing and implementing a Pharmacy Information Management System (PIMS). Common sense told me some basic feature of a PIMS, but it took some research to really identify the key features and functions of a PIMS. We have a basic system at AMPATH, but as we move in to primary health care, we need something more robust. The proposal was a request for funding to help us identify and plan the optimal solution for our environment.
With this out of the way, I can return to another project next week and when I catch up with work on that, I'll move to the next and then the next. Eventually, I'll return to back the beginning and start over again, two months later.
Always circling back. The cycle approach is I think unavoidable, life and work are rarely linear. The troubling aspect is the two months it takes to get back.* We need to really reduce this time period. I would argue that this is not a good way to run things. So how to manage this situation.**
* I haven't actually measured the cycle, but I think two months is not an exaggeration, if anything it maybe a bit optimistic.
** I am a manager after all, I need to "manage".
One of the first things to address is increasing our staffing in strategic ways. The staffing should address current and future needs. We are understaffed in about every area in ISC, so additional staff will certainly help.*
* We also need more admin staff (sys-admin, network admin, etc), developers, and helpdesk support. All must be addressed and will be in 2011.
I am keen to hire a project manager (PM) or two to help us manage the growing list of projects. Bringing on a PM means more time away from running projects, potentially putting us farther behind schedule or increasing everyone's stress level. But at a certain point, we need to address the problem, make time to fix things, even if this means adding on more stress.* A little pain now is worth it if the results are better delivery.
* A critical management task is to keep everyone informed during this process and manage expectations. Our colleagues are pretty forgiving if they know what we are up to. They will accept a bit of delay if that means their needs are better address in the near future. We need to manage expectations, this won't fix things overnight.
In addition to hiring more staff, we will look into other ways to better operate and manage our projects. More as that happens. Thanks for being patient with the slow output.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
The Post-Season
Major League Baseball in the USA is heading towards the World Series, currently four teams are battling it out in the League Championship Series (LCS) to determine who will move on to the Fall Classic.* This is my first post-season where I am following almost exclusively via news reports and blogs. I would be able to watch or listen to the games, except for the time difference and that our Internet connection is not fast enough (or reliable enough) to follow.**
* I started writing this piece just as the LCS started, so at the time there were four teams. I put this piece aside until this morning and the news reports that the Texas Rangers have defeated the Yankees. This is the first time Texas is going to the World Series. Congratulations
* Of course, that my favorite team, the New York Mets, have been mired in a few year slump and are not in the post-season gives me less motivation to seek out and watch. I am pulling for both Texas and the Giants so as to spare another New York-Philly World Series, which is the worst possible of all possibilities.
I do miss baseball very much (even with the Mets being out of things) and because of this I went ahead and purchased the Ken Burns PBS series Baseball through iTunes. It is nice because it does include the latest episode as well. I recall seeing parts of the series when it first aired in 1994, at that time I was living in Honolulu, Hawaii and I felt lucky if I could see an episode here or there. I have never really watched the whole thing. I generally like the series and I think baseball history is a great topic.*
* I like the series even though I am aware that folks have pointed out numerous errors with it. I can live with the mistakes generally, well I am happy to overlook them. I've noticed a few of them, but what I have picked up on doesn't really diminish things.
Watching some of the early episodes makes me wish it were possible to go back and watch some of the old players in their prime playing the game. It would be fantastic to see Cobb, Ruth, Mathewson, Robinson, Mays, Arron all in their prime. I am happy that so much of the recent history of the game has been preserved, it is possible to go back and watch many games played in the last 40-50 years.*
* It would be nice if I could to do this on my computer over a fast network here in Kenya. The fast network being the big problem.
So even though I cannot watch much of the playoffs, I am managing to get my fill of baseball. It will tied me over until next season, who knows by then we may actually have enough bandwidth for me to watch the games live and online.
* I started writing this piece just as the LCS started, so at the time there were four teams. I put this piece aside until this morning and the news reports that the Texas Rangers have defeated the Yankees. This is the first time Texas is going to the World Series. Congratulations
* Of course, that my favorite team, the New York Mets, have been mired in a few year slump and are not in the post-season gives me less motivation to seek out and watch. I am pulling for both Texas and the Giants so as to spare another New York-Philly World Series, which is the worst possible of all possibilities.
I do miss baseball very much (even with the Mets being out of things) and because of this I went ahead and purchased the Ken Burns PBS series Baseball through iTunes. It is nice because it does include the latest episode as well. I recall seeing parts of the series when it first aired in 1994, at that time I was living in Honolulu, Hawaii and I felt lucky if I could see an episode here or there. I have never really watched the whole thing. I generally like the series and I think baseball history is a great topic.*
* I like the series even though I am aware that folks have pointed out numerous errors with it. I can live with the mistakes generally, well I am happy to overlook them. I've noticed a few of them, but what I have picked up on doesn't really diminish things.
Watching some of the early episodes makes me wish it were possible to go back and watch some of the old players in their prime playing the game. It would be fantastic to see Cobb, Ruth, Mathewson, Robinson, Mays, Arron all in their prime. I am happy that so much of the recent history of the game has been preserved, it is possible to go back and watch many games played in the last 40-50 years.*
* It would be nice if I could to do this on my computer over a fast network here in Kenya. The fast network being the big problem.
So even though I cannot watch much of the playoffs, I am managing to get my fill of baseball. It will tied me over until next season, who knows by then we may actually have enough bandwidth for me to watch the games live and online.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Reliable Power
On Friday, I visited the AMPATH clinic at Busia, near the border of Uganda and about 3 hours away by car. The trip was a bit bumpy on the way out, my Kenyan colleague noted that driving in Kenya was more of a sport. I thought it a pretty apt description, to drive here is to be constantly on the lookout for any type of road hazard.
The reason for the trip was to assess some power issues the site has been experiencing. By power problems, we are talking power outages, surges and brown outs. This is causing all manner of troubles with our server and PC equipment at the site. The worst part, each time something major happens, it usually involves having to dispatch on our team to repair and restore the hardware. This can take from 1-2 days given the severity of the problems. So, though we are not electrical guys, we have a vested interest in solving the issues in short order. At the very least, we need to protect our assets and our time.
In the course of the morning we learned quite a bit. The problems are numerous and they need to be addressed.* The mains between buildings seemed to be inadequate for the tasks, there wasn't proper grounding in most buildings, shorts seemed to be happening everywhere. In addition, the power being supplied by the local power company seemed to have issues as well. The sad part is that folks here have somehow accepted this as normal and there has been little action on repairing the problems.**
* Again I'm no electrician, but no way some of the electrical work should have passed code (in any country).
** Their solution has been to run the generator almost all the time. The generators are in place mainly as a backup, and in that capacity they do a great job. However, it appears that at the Busia site, the generators are seen as being more than a backup solution, almost another primary source of power.
We were able to meet with a few administrators, shared our concerns and agreed to work together to address the concerns. It will be interesting to see how things will work out in the coming weeks. We did agree to return to Busia in a couple of weeks to follow up. I'm optimistic generally and I hope this all works out. In any event, I'll keep everyone posted, like to keep you all riveted!
The reason for the trip was to assess some power issues the site has been experiencing. By power problems, we are talking power outages, surges and brown outs. This is causing all manner of troubles with our server and PC equipment at the site. The worst part, each time something major happens, it usually involves having to dispatch on our team to repair and restore the hardware. This can take from 1-2 days given the severity of the problems. So, though we are not electrical guys, we have a vested interest in solving the issues in short order. At the very least, we need to protect our assets and our time.
In the course of the morning we learned quite a bit. The problems are numerous and they need to be addressed.* The mains between buildings seemed to be inadequate for the tasks, there wasn't proper grounding in most buildings, shorts seemed to be happening everywhere. In addition, the power being supplied by the local power company seemed to have issues as well. The sad part is that folks here have somehow accepted this as normal and there has been little action on repairing the problems.**
* Again I'm no electrician, but no way some of the electrical work should have passed code (in any country).
** Their solution has been to run the generator almost all the time. The generators are in place mainly as a backup, and in that capacity they do a great job. However, it appears that at the Busia site, the generators are seen as being more than a backup solution, almost another primary source of power.
We were able to meet with a few administrators, shared our concerns and agreed to work together to address the concerns. It will be interesting to see how things will work out in the coming weeks. We did agree to return to Busia in a couple of weeks to follow up. I'm optimistic generally and I hope this all works out. In any event, I'll keep everyone posted, like to keep you all riveted!
Update on My Clavicle
I went in for an x-ray and then to see the doctor this past week. The x-ray did not reveal much, but I was told it sometimes takes up to six weeks to see results. The good news was that things are healing, the clavicle was no longer moving about freely. Positives right!
The good news is that I don't have to wear a sling when I am at home and I am beginning rehab. The rehab exercises are mostly range of motion type things. I can work up to where I feel pain. The old "doctor it hurts when I do this, the doctor replies 'then don't do it'"treatment.
It feels good to be out of the sling, if even for a little while.* I have no idea when I'll be cleared to take part in real physical activity again. My guess is that I should be cleared sometime in January. Feeling a little better overall.
* I still need to wear the sling when I travel about. Just for protection.
The good news is that I don't have to wear a sling when I am at home and I am beginning rehab. The rehab exercises are mostly range of motion type things. I can work up to where I feel pain. The old "doctor it hurts when I do this, the doctor replies 'then don't do it'"treatment.
It feels good to be out of the sling, if even for a little while.* I have no idea when I'll be cleared to take part in real physical activity again. My guess is that I should be cleared sometime in January. Feeling a little better overall.
* I still need to wear the sling when I travel about. Just for protection.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
One Stop for IT Help
As I mentioned previously, we have started implementing our service desk here at AMPATH. It is very very basic right now, but I see it as a very critical aspect of the ISC operations. For most IT operations, a service desk is a no brainer and there are great reasons for it. For one, it provides a central point of customer care our users. We can let everyone know where to go and how to get help. It makes it easy for end-user, they don't have to guess about where to go for help.*
* Of course, we need to publicize and make people aware of this new service. It won't do much good if our users don't use this service.
Another great reason to have a service desk is it's role in helping use improve our service delivery. This is done as a result of the information the service desk provides. By using metrics and measurement, the reports generated from service desk utilization will provide critical operations information that we can then use to better plan and address our needs. The numbers will also be used as part of our service level management.
As I said, the service desk at this point is very basic, we have literally a desk, a PC, a phone and an intern. That intern will be responsible to receive and log help requests and then forward them to the appropriate person. The next feature that will be added is a ticket system and that should be online within a week. We thought about waiting until the ticket system is online to start the service desk, but you know what, it doesn't really matter. Just starting it is the key, we knew it was going to be perfect on day one.
* Of course, we need to publicize and make people aware of this new service. It won't do much good if our users don't use this service.
Another great reason to have a service desk is it's role in helping use improve our service delivery. This is done as a result of the information the service desk provides. By using metrics and measurement, the reports generated from service desk utilization will provide critical operations information that we can then use to better plan and address our needs. The numbers will also be used as part of our service level management.
As I said, the service desk at this point is very basic, we have literally a desk, a PC, a phone and an intern. That intern will be responsible to receive and log help requests and then forward them to the appropriate person. The next feature that will be added is a ticket system and that should be online within a week. We thought about waiting until the ticket system is online to start the service desk, but you know what, it doesn't really matter. Just starting it is the key, we knew it was going to be perfect on day one.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Service Design
We have begun to implement certain aspects of ITIL here at AMPATH. So far we are implementing a new service desk and we have started focusing on the ITIL concept of Service Design. Service Design is a way of designing IT services for our end-users as well as our stakeholders. The goal is to deliver a cost-effective, flexible, efficient, and usable service from the point of view our end-users and stakeholders (our “customers”). The outcome of Service Design is something that the project development team can take and begin to implement.
This is new to everyone at AMPATH and though we have a good sense of what we want to do, we do expect to make a number of mistakes along the way. The plan is to constantly evaluate our Service Design implementation and refine things as we go. This is a process.*
* I have read that some people criticize ITIL as being too rigid. I disagree and find the counter to this argument to be more in tune with our approach. The counter-argument states that ITIL is simply a set of best practices that each organization should tailor to their needs. ITIL is a set of guidelines and not something carved in stone.
To achieve our ends, Service Design requires that our ISC group work closely with our “customers” to develop the IT service. We must understand exactly what they need, their requirements and we must do so in their language and not the language of IT. The process is based on developing relationships and fostering good communication. It is critical that both sides understand the expectations from the start and through out the entire service lifecycle.
The first real service to be developed using this model will support the AMPATH Nutrition Program.* We held our first real "Service Design" meeting today and I think it was a shock to Nutrition folks. When we explained to them that we will be working for them, they really seemed flabbergasted and had a hard time fully understanding exactly what we were saying. I honestly don't believe anyone has ever approached their group in such a way, we explained that we really need to understand their needs from their point of view and that this was critical to provide them with a service that they could actually use.
* The nutrition program helps provide food for qualified AMPATH patients. The program manages food inventory, distribution, and delivery. The program is actually a part of clinical care here at AMPATH.
It was a little amusing and made me think about how projects (not just IT projects) are developed and delivered.* How often do we actually take into consideration the end-user'a wants and needs.** I think back to other projects I have been involved with and how often we worked with the end-users during the design and development process. Truth is, we did not spend enough time.
* It also reminded me of some good friends of mine and their experiences in having their house built. It seems that they were not qualified to know what they wanted. The architects however were more experienced in such things.
** This takes me back a bit to my previous conversation with the Director. He wants the EHR that we have developed at AMPATH at his hospital. I wonder how many of the medical professionals want it and how many would use it if they were not part of the implementation process.
This is new to everyone at AMPATH and though we have a good sense of what we want to do, we do expect to make a number of mistakes along the way. The plan is to constantly evaluate our Service Design implementation and refine things as we go. This is a process.*
* I have read that some people criticize ITIL as being too rigid. I disagree and find the counter to this argument to be more in tune with our approach. The counter-argument states that ITIL is simply a set of best practices that each organization should tailor to their needs. ITIL is a set of guidelines and not something carved in stone.
To achieve our ends, Service Design requires that our ISC group work closely with our “customers” to develop the IT service. We must understand exactly what they need, their requirements and we must do so in their language and not the language of IT. The process is based on developing relationships and fostering good communication. It is critical that both sides understand the expectations from the start and through out the entire service lifecycle.
The first real service to be developed using this model will support the AMPATH Nutrition Program.* We held our first real "Service Design" meeting today and I think it was a shock to Nutrition folks. When we explained to them that we will be working for them, they really seemed flabbergasted and had a hard time fully understanding exactly what we were saying. I honestly don't believe anyone has ever approached their group in such a way, we explained that we really need to understand their needs from their point of view and that this was critical to provide them with a service that they could actually use.
* The nutrition program helps provide food for qualified AMPATH patients. The program manages food inventory, distribution, and delivery. The program is actually a part of clinical care here at AMPATH.
It was a little amusing and made me think about how projects (not just IT projects) are developed and delivered.* How often do we actually take into consideration the end-user'a wants and needs.** I think back to other projects I have been involved with and how often we worked with the end-users during the design and development process. Truth is, we did not spend enough time.
* It also reminded me of some good friends of mine and their experiences in having their house built. It seems that they were not qualified to know what they wanted. The architects however were more experienced in such things.
** This takes me back a bit to my previous conversation with the Director. He wants the EHR that we have developed at AMPATH at his hospital. I wonder how many of the medical professionals want it and how many would use it if they were not part of the implementation process.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Delivering Value in IT
I had a meeting recently with the Director of Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH).* We discussed a number of things, mostly though, it was a conversation about his frustrations and the inefficiencies with his organization.
* A little background or reminder. AMPATH is an academic partnership between MTRH, Moi University, Indiana University-Perdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and a host of other US and Canadian universities. There is no formal AMPATH organization per se. AMPATH exists as a way for academic institutions to organize and partner together with the goal of providing access to health care (the PATH part of AMPATH).
When the time came to discuss the situation with IT at MTRH, the Director was extremely disappointed and quite frustrated with the level of service he was receiving from his close to 60 member IT team.*
* MTRH IT is separate from the AMPATH ISC. Generally, people around AMPATH, MTRH and Moi University are quite impressed of the job being done by AMPATH ISC. Our 7 member team really do an amazing job managing things here.
For example, the Director made mention of a computer system used in one of the wards that was down for more than three months simply because the mouse was broken. In another example, he was dismayed to see members of the IT staff sitting around playing cards or walking up to the cafeteria during work hours for coffee. He wondered why he was paying these people when it seems like they did nothing at all. At one point, he asked the Kenyan colleague of mine what he learned in college, the Kenyan colleague was a little flabbergasted and didn't really know how to answer the question. So the Director answered it for him, “you were taught how to think creatively.”
At one point, he mentioned that he was so tempted to fire all of them and start over with a new team. Whether or not he was serious about this threat is unknown to me (he could actually do it if he wanted). However, I can understand the frustration expressed by the Director, if I was in his position, I would be equally as frustrated and might want to fire my team as well.
* A little background or reminder. AMPATH is an academic partnership between MTRH, Moi University, Indiana University-Perdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), and a host of other US and Canadian universities. There is no formal AMPATH organization per se. AMPATH exists as a way for academic institutions to organize and partner together with the goal of providing access to health care (the PATH part of AMPATH).
When the time came to discuss the situation with IT at MTRH, the Director was extremely disappointed and quite frustrated with the level of service he was receiving from his close to 60 member IT team.*
* MTRH IT is separate from the AMPATH ISC. Generally, people around AMPATH, MTRH and Moi University are quite impressed of the job being done by AMPATH ISC. Our 7 member team really do an amazing job managing things here.
For example, the Director made mention of a computer system used in one of the wards that was down for more than three months simply because the mouse was broken. In another example, he was dismayed to see members of the IT staff sitting around playing cards or walking up to the cafeteria during work hours for coffee. He wondered why he was paying these people when it seems like they did nothing at all. At one point, he asked the Kenyan colleague of mine what he learned in college, the Kenyan colleague was a little flabbergasted and didn't really know how to answer the question. So the Director answered it for him, “you were taught how to think creatively.”
At one point, he mentioned that he was so tempted to fire all of them and start over with a new team. Whether or not he was serious about this threat is unknown to me (he could actually do it if he wanted). However, I can understand the frustration expressed by the Director, if I was in his position, I would be equally as frustrated and might want to fire my team as well.
I continually remind the AMPATH ISC group about the importance of delivering value to the organization, if they can do this the organization will see them as a valued asset, an important part of an AMPATH. In addition, I constantly hammer home the notion that the last thing the ISC team needs is for management to question “why are we paying these guys.” Clearly, the MTRH Director is feeling this way right now, he is questioning the value of and why he is paying his IT team and if you are the IT Director at MTRH you are definitely not a good position. I met earlier with the IT Director and I don't believe he is aware of how tenuous his position is.*
* I do plan to talk with the IT Director at MTRH and let him know the situation and I will work with him to help improve overall IT operations. It remains to be seen whether or not he will execute and perform up to expectations.
How do you deliver value in IT? Well the easy answer is, deliver cost-efficient, flexible, responsive services that meet the needs of and help drive the organization. How you actually do this really depends on your organization, again the devil is in the details. Here it AMPATH we are beginning to refocus and reorganize the IT operations with an eye towards IT service management. Our role right now is first and foremost to deliver services in a reliable fashion to the healthcare providers and to be as a partner in the ongoing efforts here in Eldoret.
We are at the start of our journey and there is much to do. One initial initiative began last week with the implementation of a new IT service desk. We want to give our users a place to go when they need IT help and provide for them a one-stop place where they can turn in time of need. Were starting out very simply with just a ticket system, a central e-mail address, and phone number. My hope is that our service desk will grow to the point where we can be more proactive when it comes to supporting IT efforts at AMPATH. I do believe that this small effort will deliver value and and our end-users will appreciate our efforts.
Clavicle debacle
Sorry again for the long delay between posts, things have been really busy here and it left me little time to think about writing let alone actually taking time to write. Add to this and unfortunate event that occurred on September 19th when I fractured my clavicle while playing soccer with some colleagues and some Kenyans. A truly painful event, but fortunately I had doctors around me who were quick to help and get me the proper treatment.* The fracture has put my right arm in a sling and I'm to stay in this predicament for about six weeks. Being in the sling forces me to type most things with one hand, and let me say for the record, that one-handed typing is no fun. All-in-all, I have been in no mood to write.
* A work on Kenyan health care. I didn't spend much time in the system, there are enough Western Doctors here that they were able to diagnose and get me the proper X-rays. We also sent the copies of the film to Orthopedic Surgeons in the US (both in Indianapolis and New York) for additional consultation. I will say one thing, I have had three X-rays taken here and so far I've spent less than $20 US for all three. Actually, I spent less than a co-pay for the X-rays.
The timing of the fracture was unfortunate, I was starting to write the ISC strategic plan. Given the difficulties with typing I decided to look into dictation software for the Mac. I was well aware of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but I was not sure if the folks at Dragon produced a similar title for the Mac. Fortunately, there is Dragon Dictate for the Mac and as a bonus I could buy electronic version and not have to worry about having a CD or DVD shipped to me.* Of course, as with many things in Kenya, actually getting the software and the necessary equipment to make everything work was not going to be an easy thing.
* Having things shipped from the US to Eldoret is nowhere near as easy as having something shipped from Indianapolis to New York. First off, it could take upwards of a few weeks for anything to arrive via international shipping. Then there are always issues with customs here in Kenya and that can cause further delay.** Finally, once the item has arrived in Kenya and cleared customs, there is still the challenge of getting the item from Nairobi to Eldoret and the additional issue of getting the item to where I live. With the last part, you should know that street addresses, though they exist to some degree, are not as formalized as they are in the US. There are street names here, but I have been unable to figure out if actual address numbers even exist.
** We recently have some android phones shipped out from Indianapolis via DHL. AMPATH is being helped by the folks at DHL, whereby DHL will help ship items to Eldoret for little or no cost. They also agreed to help deal with customs related issues to help us move equipment and supplies fairly quickly and with little hassle. Unfortunately, in practice this doesn't always work out as planned. The phones that were shipped took less than four days to move between Indianapolis and Nairobi and have been stuck in the customs process for more than 10 day.
The first step in getting dictation software was actually being able to download the software. As I said, I purchased the electronic version of DragonDictate and I hoped to simply download the software even if it took a few hours to do so. Unfortunately, it seems like the folks at Dragon block downloads to certain places like Africa. So, I had to enlist the help of a colleague at the Regenstrief Institute to download the software and posted up on one of our temporary download server servers. I next had to transfer the software to one of the AMPATH servers and finally transfer the software to a USB flash drive.*
* The Internet service that we currently have is incredibly slow, I'm talking mid-90s modem slow. To transfer the software directly to my laptop at home would have taken close to 15 hours. I do understand that the file size was fairly large (1.5 GB), but it only took three hours to download the software to our AMPATH server.
So now, with software and hand I had to overcome next major hurdle. And that was to find a suitable headset to work with Dragon dictate. This proved to be pretty much impossible, though some stores sold computer headsets, none of those headsets were quite good enough for what I needed. This resulted in me having to order the proper headset, have it shipped to Indianapolis and then make arrangements to have it transported here to Eldoret. I was faced with having to wait at least 2 to 3 weeks for the headset to arrive and see my productivity shot to hell. Fortunately, a colleague happened to have a headset that met specifications, let me borrow it and now I am able to get some work done. I'm using Dragon Dictate to write this blog, I've not yet mastered it, but it does generally work beyond my expectations.
Things are not always easy here, and quite often, to quote the Rolling Stones, “you can't always get what you want.” Fortunately however, the rest of the lyric (“if you try sometime, you find, you get what you need”) also holds true.
For now, I will spend some time learning the software, hopefully catch up with my work, and get some more time to write about things here on this blog.
 |
| My Broken Right Clavicle |
The timing of the fracture was unfortunate, I was starting to write the ISC strategic plan. Given the difficulties with typing I decided to look into dictation software for the Mac. I was well aware of Dragon NaturallySpeaking, but I was not sure if the folks at Dragon produced a similar title for the Mac. Fortunately, there is Dragon Dictate for the Mac and as a bonus I could buy electronic version and not have to worry about having a CD or DVD shipped to me.* Of course, as with many things in Kenya, actually getting the software and the necessary equipment to make everything work was not going to be an easy thing.
* Having things shipped from the US to Eldoret is nowhere near as easy as having something shipped from Indianapolis to New York. First off, it could take upwards of a few weeks for anything to arrive via international shipping. Then there are always issues with customs here in Kenya and that can cause further delay.** Finally, once the item has arrived in Kenya and cleared customs, there is still the challenge of getting the item from Nairobi to Eldoret and the additional issue of getting the item to where I live. With the last part, you should know that street addresses, though they exist to some degree, are not as formalized as they are in the US. There are street names here, but I have been unable to figure out if actual address numbers even exist.
** We recently have some android phones shipped out from Indianapolis via DHL. AMPATH is being helped by the folks at DHL, whereby DHL will help ship items to Eldoret for little or no cost. They also agreed to help deal with customs related issues to help us move equipment and supplies fairly quickly and with little hassle. Unfortunately, in practice this doesn't always work out as planned. The phones that were shipped took less than four days to move between Indianapolis and Nairobi and have been stuck in the customs process for more than 10 day.
The first step in getting dictation software was actually being able to download the software. As I said, I purchased the electronic version of DragonDictate and I hoped to simply download the software even if it took a few hours to do so. Unfortunately, it seems like the folks at Dragon block downloads to certain places like Africa. So, I had to enlist the help of a colleague at the Regenstrief Institute to download the software and posted up on one of our temporary download server servers. I next had to transfer the software to one of the AMPATH servers and finally transfer the software to a USB flash drive.*
* The Internet service that we currently have is incredibly slow, I'm talking mid-90s modem slow. To transfer the software directly to my laptop at home would have taken close to 15 hours. I do understand that the file size was fairly large (1.5 GB), but it only took three hours to download the software to our AMPATH server.
So now, with software and hand I had to overcome next major hurdle. And that was to find a suitable headset to work with Dragon dictate. This proved to be pretty much impossible, though some stores sold computer headsets, none of those headsets were quite good enough for what I needed. This resulted in me having to order the proper headset, have it shipped to Indianapolis and then make arrangements to have it transported here to Eldoret. I was faced with having to wait at least 2 to 3 weeks for the headset to arrive and see my productivity shot to hell. Fortunately, a colleague happened to have a headset that met specifications, let me borrow it and now I am able to get some work done. I'm using Dragon Dictate to write this blog, I've not yet mastered it, but it does generally work beyond my expectations.
Things are not always easy here, and quite often, to quote the Rolling Stones, “you can't always get what you want.” Fortunately however, the rest of the lyric (“if you try sometime, you find, you get what you need”) also holds true.
For now, I will spend some time learning the software, hopefully catch up with my work, and get some more time to write about things here on this blog.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Metrics and Measurement
Greetings folks, things have been a bit quiet here, work is keeping me busy and I've been spending my free time researching the whole ITIL thing.*
* I did manage a trip to Nairobi and had time for a little fun at Nairobi National Park. The obligatory event photos are on Picasa.
During my first trip to Eldoret in September 2009, I met with a few of the IT staff at AMPATH and we discussed their issues. Time and again, I was told that they spent so much time with end-user support and had not enough time on implementing new projects. Projects are always the fun part of work and generally most IT folks want to do more project work than anything else.* I asked if they had some metrics on exactly how much time they were spending on end-user requests, incidents and problems. They lacked this information and so I suggested that they try to focus on this a bit, explaining that it is easier to request more help if you have data to support the request.
* Of course, the "anything else" part is normally the customer facing tasks that end-users really appreciate. The trick is to convince the IT folks that the "anything else" bit is really really important, happy end-users is critical. The technology stuff, while fun to work and play with, really doesn't mean much if it doesn't serve the needs of end-users or worse if the end-users cannot make use of it.
One key aspect of ITIL is metrics, measuring what we do and being able to use that to better manage things and improve.* This is one of the many areas where we will invest time and energy. We need to develop good metrics on the core things that we do, we need to better understand how well we perform, how much time is spent on various tasks, and we want to use the data to improve what we do. In addition, the data is critical for senior managers, to help in their understanding of the scope of IT.
* A key message in one of the ITIL publications is "if you don't measure it, you can't manage it; if you don't measure it, you can't improve it; if you don't measure it, you probably don't care; if you can't influence or control it, then don't measure it".
I recognize that collecting and reporting the data will create addition work for the IT folks, but I honestly believe this is an essential part of our work. If they need more help or resources, the only way to get those things is to provide some sound documentation to back up that need. I generally hate bureaucratic stuff, but I am willing to do such things when there is a sound rationale for it and if there is some potential benefit, I figure most people operate the same way.
* I did manage a trip to Nairobi and had time for a little fun at Nairobi National Park. The obligatory event photos are on Picasa.
During my first trip to Eldoret in September 2009, I met with a few of the IT staff at AMPATH and we discussed their issues. Time and again, I was told that they spent so much time with end-user support and had not enough time on implementing new projects. Projects are always the fun part of work and generally most IT folks want to do more project work than anything else.* I asked if they had some metrics on exactly how much time they were spending on end-user requests, incidents and problems. They lacked this information and so I suggested that they try to focus on this a bit, explaining that it is easier to request more help if you have data to support the request.
* Of course, the "anything else" part is normally the customer facing tasks that end-users really appreciate. The trick is to convince the IT folks that the "anything else" bit is really really important, happy end-users is critical. The technology stuff, while fun to work and play with, really doesn't mean much if it doesn't serve the needs of end-users or worse if the end-users cannot make use of it.
One key aspect of ITIL is metrics, measuring what we do and being able to use that to better manage things and improve.* This is one of the many areas where we will invest time and energy. We need to develop good metrics on the core things that we do, we need to better understand how well we perform, how much time is spent on various tasks, and we want to use the data to improve what we do. In addition, the data is critical for senior managers, to help in their understanding of the scope of IT.
* A key message in one of the ITIL publications is "if you don't measure it, you can't manage it; if you don't measure it, you can't improve it; if you don't measure it, you probably don't care; if you can't influence or control it, then don't measure it".
I recognize that collecting and reporting the data will create addition work for the IT folks, but I honestly believe this is an essential part of our work. If they need more help or resources, the only way to get those things is to provide some sound documentation to back up that need. I generally hate bureaucratic stuff, but I am willing to do such things when there is a sound rationale for it and if there is some potential benefit, I figure most people operate the same way.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
A Taste of Home
Late last week a group from the Regenstrief Institute came out to Eldoret to lead an OpenMRS training this week. The crew were kind enough to bring out a trunk filled with a bunch of things. Included in the trunk were some things I had left behind (e.g. my soccer cleats), some things that I needed more of (e.g. work shirts, sneakers), and some creature comforts (e.g. maple syrup and Oreos).
On the subject of Oreos, you can get them here, but they are different enough that it made me miss the originals.* The world is definitely smaller and you can get a lot of American things in Eldoret. The folks who have been part of AMPATH for many years really appreciate how good things are these days. However, when those American things are just not quite the same, well I get a little homesick.
* Okay, so Oreos may not be healthy for me, but they make a great treat with my cup of tea after dinner.
It is interesting how you appreciate the little things in life, things most people take for granted. It is important to realize that things are just that, things. What got all that stuff to me were my friends and colleagues. To that end, I really appreciate the kindness of my friends who helped in getting all the stuff out to Indianapolis and my colleagues who brought a little taste of home to Western Kenya. Asante Sana!
On the subject of Oreos, you can get them here, but they are different enough that it made me miss the originals.* The world is definitely smaller and you can get a lot of American things in Eldoret. The folks who have been part of AMPATH for many years really appreciate how good things are these days. However, when those American things are just not quite the same, well I get a little homesick.
* Okay, so Oreos may not be healthy for me, but they make a great treat with my cup of tea after dinner.
It is interesting how you appreciate the little things in life, things most people take for granted. It is important to realize that things are just that, things. What got all that stuff to me were my friends and colleagues. To that end, I really appreciate the kindness of my friends who helped in getting all the stuff out to Indianapolis and my colleagues who brought a little taste of home to Western Kenya. Asante Sana!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Cool Technology
Things have been quite busy lately, so much so that I've not had much time to think about writing.* In the midst of all of this I received a nice little piece of equipment that has turned my iPad and iPhone into a cool little guitar amp simulator.**
* I have a piece coming up about IT management, communication and being responsive.
** And another piece about Christmas in August
I read a few weeks ago a review of the amp simulator software AmpliTube by IK Multimedia coming to the iPhone and iPad, the review was quite positive in the overall quality of the amp simulation. I was familiar with the software and I was very curious to try it on my iPad. The price was right, they have a free version and the full app runs around $20 US. Cheaper than flying to the UK to buy a new guitar amp.
To make it work required that I also purchase a special cable to allow me to plug my guitar in to the iPad. There are a couple of such cables on the market and based on the reviews, I chose the iRig unit. The challenge was to actually get the iRig to me here in Eldoret. As will be explained later, I managed to to do that and this morning I was able to briefly test things out.
I'm impressed and pleased overall. It won't replace a full amp, but it is much better than my little Vox amPlug headphone amp and my initial reaction puts it ahead of my Line 6 Pocket POD. I am looking forward to loading up the AmpliTube software on my iPhone for a cool little portable amp.*
* As an add-on, I recently received a Klipsch iGroove powered speaker unit for my iPhone, in concept it is the same as the Bose Sound Dock, but cheaper. The nice thing about the iGroove is the line-in jack on the back of the unit. I can plug in my iPad or my laptop and enjoy much fuller audio than through the small internal speakers. And I am able to send the output from AmpliTube to the iGroove as well giving me the ability to kick up a bit of a racket. Ahhhh, overdrive.
None of this means that I'll forgo buying an amplifier anytime soon, but for now this will keep me occupied.
* I have a piece coming up about IT management, communication and being responsive.
** And another piece about Christmas in August
I read a few weeks ago a review of the amp simulator software AmpliTube by IK Multimedia coming to the iPhone and iPad, the review was quite positive in the overall quality of the amp simulation. I was familiar with the software and I was very curious to try it on my iPad. The price was right, they have a free version and the full app runs around $20 US. Cheaper than flying to the UK to buy a new guitar amp.
To make it work required that I also purchase a special cable to allow me to plug my guitar in to the iPad. There are a couple of such cables on the market and based on the reviews, I chose the iRig unit. The challenge was to actually get the iRig to me here in Eldoret. As will be explained later, I managed to to do that and this morning I was able to briefly test things out.
I'm impressed and pleased overall. It won't replace a full amp, but it is much better than my little Vox amPlug headphone amp and my initial reaction puts it ahead of my Line 6 Pocket POD. I am looking forward to loading up the AmpliTube software on my iPhone for a cool little portable amp.*
* As an add-on, I recently received a Klipsch iGroove powered speaker unit for my iPhone, in concept it is the same as the Bose Sound Dock, but cheaper. The nice thing about the iGroove is the line-in jack on the back of the unit. I can plug in my iPad or my laptop and enjoy much fuller audio than through the small internal speakers. And I am able to send the output from AmpliTube to the iGroove as well giving me the ability to kick up a bit of a racket. Ahhhh, overdrive.
None of this means that I'll forgo buying an amplifier anytime soon, but for now this will keep me occupied.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Urgh!!!!
I just finished and was ready to edit a post about Starting a Global Health IT Project when the browser crashed. Frustrating because my Internet connection was not going great which resulted in the "autosave" feature not really being able to save my the post. So, much of the work is lost and I'll have to essentially start again.
I'm a technologist and I appreciate technology. I also hate it when it doesn't work the way it is supposed to. Such is life and I gotta get over it. Still, it is frustrating. Urgh!
This does highlight issues related to cloud computing. I like the idea, I like that I ought to be able to get my data, content and stuff over the web and be able to access it anywhere. However, if I don't have an Internet connection or it is running slow, then the cloud becomes an impediment to getting my work done.
I do use Apple's MobileMe service and they offer sort of a hybrid model.* I have a local iDisk that houses a copy of my cloud-based files on my laptop. I can sync the iDisk and move my files up to the cloud. So I can access files from another Internet connected computer and I can still get access my content if I don't have a network connection.
* There are probably other services that do the same things as MobileMe. I've not looked because for now I'm happy with the MobileMe service.
I think I'll have to find an offline tool to compose the blog and then upload it when it is done. Having a local copy will hopefully keep me from losing work and being frustrated over the whole process. URGH!!!
I'm a technologist and I appreciate technology. I also hate it when it doesn't work the way it is supposed to. Such is life and I gotta get over it. Still, it is frustrating. Urgh!
This does highlight issues related to cloud computing. I like the idea, I like that I ought to be able to get my data, content and stuff over the web and be able to access it anywhere. However, if I don't have an Internet connection or it is running slow, then the cloud becomes an impediment to getting my work done.
I do use Apple's MobileMe service and they offer sort of a hybrid model.* I have a local iDisk that houses a copy of my cloud-based files on my laptop. I can sync the iDisk and move my files up to the cloud. So I can access files from another Internet connected computer and I can still get access my content if I don't have a network connection.
* There are probably other services that do the same things as MobileMe. I've not looked because for now I'm happy with the MobileMe service.
I think I'll have to find an offline tool to compose the blog and then upload it when it is done. Having a local copy will hopefully keep me from losing work and being frustrated over the whole process. URGH!!!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday Morning Pancakes
This is a bit late in coming, since it is Tuesday night and I first started this post on Sunday morning. I got distracted with some other things and have not had the time to get back writing. Work has been busy, things are beginning to come in to focus and we are beginning to get some information out to the team.* But this post is not about work or ITIL or strategic plans. No this is all about PANCAKES!
* I'm no huge fan of work related surprises. I think it is best to let people know what is coming. Besides the stuff we're doing is pretty positive.
On a previous shopping trip, I happened to stumble on a very very rare treasure. A bottle of Canadian Maple syrup. Oh, it isn't the best stuff in the world, but it is the real deal. I was pretty excited by the find and quickly put a bottle in my shopping cart. I thought to myself, soon you will be enjoying a great breakfast treat, a little bit of home.
This past Sunday was pancake Sunday. I mixed up some pancake mix using an Alton Brown recipe.* I had to make some modifications. For example, the recipe calls for butter milk, but I've not seen the stuff here, so I had to make due with regular milk.
* Alton Brown's Good Eats is a true geek show. Sort of cooking meets Mr. Wizard.
The other challenging bit has to do with my overall weak cooking skills. I am more comfortable when I have the necessary hardware like measuring spoons and cups. I have managed to find a one-cup measuring cup, but no measuring spoons. Without this equipment, I am generally hesitant to try a new recipe. However, this time I would not let the lack of measuring spoons stop me. For I had a bottle of maple syrup that needed pancakes.
So, I followed the recipe as best I could, used milk instead of butter milk, and soon I was ready to put batter to griddle. Well, I currently lack a nice size griddle so instead I use a teflon coated frying pan. With all this, lets make a nice plate of flapjacks.
It took some time to get the heat right and to get the cooking time down.* Overall, it all worked out pretty well, not perfect, but a good start. I was pleased with the outcome and for a few minutes I was transported back to the USA. Now if only I could find some bacon. Pancakes are great with bacon.
* Seriously, you would think that pancakes should be easy and not this complicated.
* I'm no huge fan of work related surprises. I think it is best to let people know what is coming. Besides the stuff we're doing is pretty positive.
On a previous shopping trip, I happened to stumble on a very very rare treasure. A bottle of Canadian Maple syrup. Oh, it isn't the best stuff in the world, but it is the real deal. I was pretty excited by the find and quickly put a bottle in my shopping cart. I thought to myself, soon you will be enjoying a great breakfast treat, a little bit of home.
This past Sunday was pancake Sunday. I mixed up some pancake mix using an Alton Brown recipe.* I had to make some modifications. For example, the recipe calls for butter milk, but I've not seen the stuff here, so I had to make due with regular milk.
* Alton Brown's Good Eats is a true geek show. Sort of cooking meets Mr. Wizard.
The other challenging bit has to do with my overall weak cooking skills. I am more comfortable when I have the necessary hardware like measuring spoons and cups. I have managed to find a one-cup measuring cup, but no measuring spoons. Without this equipment, I am generally hesitant to try a new recipe. However, this time I would not let the lack of measuring spoons stop me. For I had a bottle of maple syrup that needed pancakes.
So, I followed the recipe as best I could, used milk instead of butter milk, and soon I was ready to put batter to griddle. Well, I currently lack a nice size griddle so instead I use a teflon coated frying pan. With all this, lets make a nice plate of flapjacks.
It took some time to get the heat right and to get the cooking time down.* Overall, it all worked out pretty well, not perfect, but a good start. I was pleased with the outcome and for a few minutes I was transported back to the USA. Now if only I could find some bacon. Pancakes are great with bacon.
* Seriously, you would think that pancakes should be easy and not this complicated.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Making Things Work
I've been busy these past few days doing work on the ISC Strategic Plan. I have sort of worked out the framework for the plan and have begun the work of putting together the pieces. The framework itself is beginning to evolve as I read and research things. One of the things I have decided to consider more seriously is actually implementing aspects of ITIL.*
* I've gone back-and-forth on this a few times. Conceptually, I get ITIL and think would be great to implement. I just have no experience in an actual ITIL implementation and no real time to go get trained.**
** I can only assume the costs of bringing out an experienced consultant to be way too expensive. I'm happy for any volunteers.
The change in my thinking has come about through a small bit of research into ITIL and by taking the plunge and purchasing a couple of ITIL books.* I've skimmed both books and I'm now reading the "Service Design" book more carefully. This post is not about ITIL or what I have learned thus far, it is about how was able to get the ITIL PDFs to work on my iPad.**
* Those books are expensive. I think they could help a lot of initiatives like AMPATH, but the costs of the books are hard to justify.
** Such a long wait to get to the point. Feeling wordy today, apologies.
One of the things I really appreciate is being able to buy eBooks and load them on to my iPad. I make extensive use of both the Apple iBook and Amazon Kindle iPad eBook reader apps. They're both pretty good, not great. I also make heavy use of GoodReader and iAnnotate reading PDFs. Between the four apps, I'm pretty well covered.*
* Okay, it really sucks having four different apps, I'm still hoping for the one single app that does everything to my expectations.
That the ITIL books are available as encrypted PDFs posed a bit of a challenge. None of the aforementioned apps support Adobe's Digital Edition encrypted PDFs. If I had to order the actual books, I would have no idea how long it would take to get to Eldoret. And I assumed the shipping costs to be a bit on the crazy side. Fortunately, "there is an app for that." I found another application that will allow me to read the ITIL PDFs on my iPad.
The app is called the 'Txtr Reader" and it is available for the iPad. The app itself is pretty basic. The navigation is not that polished, the PDF rendering (for small text) in not great, there is no support for annotations or bookmarks. But after downloading the ITIL book, then uploading to the Txtr server, then downloading it back to my iPad, I can read instantly.*
* You can add getting content on to the device as a negative.
Another plus, is that all of this is free! From what I can gather, Txtr is in the business of selling eBooks (many in German, but they have English titles as well). They are using the razor-blade business model. Give away the software/service and charge for the books.*
* It really bugs me that I have to have a Kindle device to get a Kindle email address so I can send my own content up to Amazon, so I can get it to my iPad while being charged for it.**
** I do like toys, but I'm really in no mood to buy a Kindle.
So, it was all a bit complicated, but in the end I got it too work. And for the ITIL stuff, I am committed to starting to implement some of it and helping the guys here get to the point where they can finish it after I am gone.
* I've gone back-and-forth on this a few times. Conceptually, I get ITIL and think would be great to implement. I just have no experience in an actual ITIL implementation and no real time to go get trained.**
** I can only assume the costs of bringing out an experienced consultant to be way too expensive. I'm happy for any volunteers.
The change in my thinking has come about through a small bit of research into ITIL and by taking the plunge and purchasing a couple of ITIL books.* I've skimmed both books and I'm now reading the "Service Design" book more carefully. This post is not about ITIL or what I have learned thus far, it is about how was able to get the ITIL PDFs to work on my iPad.**
* Those books are expensive. I think they could help a lot of initiatives like AMPATH, but the costs of the books are hard to justify.
** Such a long wait to get to the point. Feeling wordy today, apologies.
One of the things I really appreciate is being able to buy eBooks and load them on to my iPad. I make extensive use of both the Apple iBook and Amazon Kindle iPad eBook reader apps. They're both pretty good, not great. I also make heavy use of GoodReader and iAnnotate reading PDFs. Between the four apps, I'm pretty well covered.*
* Okay, it really sucks having four different apps, I'm still hoping for the one single app that does everything to my expectations.
That the ITIL books are available as encrypted PDFs posed a bit of a challenge. None of the aforementioned apps support Adobe's Digital Edition encrypted PDFs. If I had to order the actual books, I would have no idea how long it would take to get to Eldoret. And I assumed the shipping costs to be a bit on the crazy side. Fortunately, "there is an app for that." I found another application that will allow me to read the ITIL PDFs on my iPad.
The app is called the 'Txtr Reader" and it is available for the iPad. The app itself is pretty basic. The navigation is not that polished, the PDF rendering (for small text) in not great, there is no support for annotations or bookmarks. But after downloading the ITIL book, then uploading to the Txtr server, then downloading it back to my iPad, I can read instantly.*
* You can add getting content on to the device as a negative.
Another plus, is that all of this is free! From what I can gather, Txtr is in the business of selling eBooks (many in German, but they have English titles as well). They are using the razor-blade business model. Give away the software/service and charge for the books.*
* It really bugs me that I have to have a Kindle device to get a Kindle email address so I can send my own content up to Amazon, so I can get it to my iPad while being charged for it.**
** I do like toys, but I'm really in no mood to buy a Kindle.
So, it was all a bit complicated, but in the end I got it too work. And for the ITIL stuff, I am committed to starting to implement some of it and helping the guys here get to the point where they can finish it after I am gone.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tumaini
I attended a special event at The Tumaini Children's Center this morning. The Tumaini Center was started at the beginning of this year (2010) to help the many street children in Eldoret.* The street children roam the streets in search of food, money, and friendship. Estimates reported by Tumani indicate that there are over 3000 street kids in Eldoret.** Many are orphaned and still others come from families who are simply unable to provide for their children.
* The mission of the Tumaini Children's Center is to help improve the lives of street children in Eldoret by empowering them with hope, knowledge, skills, opportunities and resources necessary for them to find a health alternative to street life.
** There are roughly between 190,000-220,000 people in Eldoret.
Today's event was a photography show where the featured photographers were 8 street children (ages 17 and under) who were given cameras and after some basic training in photography were asked to photograph their lives. The photos were amazing and I wish I had a few to share with you.* To see literally a snapshot of their lives was a pretty moving thing.
* I also wish I could get them published. Though their work may not be up to the quality standards of say "The National Geographic", the images that are captured should be seen by a wider audience.
The event was fun, there was some dancing, some introductions, followed by the gallery event. I toured the event and met some of the photographers. They were very proud of their work, they were able to articulate something special. They did take just snapshots, a few mentioned something more deep about what they saw through the viewfinder.
Fortunately, I was able to capture a bit of the day and have posted a few of the photos here.
Getting back to the Tumaini Children's Center, the efforts by the folks involved is really a labor of love. The center runs on very little money but they do a great deal with very little. They offer outreach services on the weekends, the center itself open three days a week so the children can come in for some food, access medical, educational and social services, and enjoy a safe sheltered place for a few hours. The hope is that the center will continue to grow in a sustainable way and be a full-time asset to Eldoret.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Cool Fun
Now that I have my iPhone working again, I am once again using it all the time.* Which also means that I'm tuning in to iPhone app stories and reviews.
* While I'm a huge fan of my iPhone, I am not going to get into a religious war over the "best" smartphone platform.** If you are a fan of Andriod, cool. Some other smartphone, more power to you. I like how my iPhone works and really enjoy the applications available for it.
** I also don't partake in religious wars over Unix editors (I'm an emacs fan, but can sort of use vi) or other things. I appreciate it when I find value or usability in a tool, an OS and really appreciate the difference between my Strats and my Les Paul.
I admit am not always up-to-date on things and probably behind the curve on a number of apps. That being said, I freely admit to getting very excited when I discover a new app with a high coolness factor. One such recent discovery is 'Starmap'.
I like the idea of looking at the stars, but I am in no way close to being a hobby astronomer. The best I can do is find polaris. I've often thought about buying a telescope, but have not yet done so. For me, I enjoy looking up at the stars, wish I could better identify things and I look forward to getting the chance to see the Milky Way again.
When I heard that the Persied meteor shower should be in view this week, I got a little excited. After reading a Wired article about how best to view the meteor shower, the article's instructions were pretty simple, locate the constellation Perseus around midnight.*
* This is for folks in the Northern Hemisphere, Eldoret by virtue of being located 30 minutes north of the equator put me just barely in the north.
Sounded simple enough, except I had no idea where to find the Perseus constellation. Ah but there are Smart Phones and entrepreneurs abound. The Wired article also included a iPhone app recommendation for the Astronomy-challenged like me in the aforementioned Starmap app.* A quick $12 purchase and I was all set.**
* They was also a recommendation for Android users.
** $12 US seemed expensive when I first saw the price, but the reviews for the app were stellar and I decided to purchase the app anyway.
Starmap makes use of the iPhone 3GS (and 4) built in compass to help average folks locate and identify celestial objects in the sky. The first night I used it, I had so much fun. I quickly identified Mars, Venus, Saturn and a few other stars.* It was all very very exciting.
* I could clearly see Mars' red color without the aid of a telescope or binoculars.
As for the meteor shower. Well, I missed out. The midnight viewing made it quite tough for me. I'm usually up at 5:00 AM, which means that by 22:30-23:00, I'm out for the night. Oh well, I hope that I can glimpse the Leonid meteor shower in November. Until then, on clear nights, I'll be using Starmap and this may result in my buying a telescope.
* While I'm a huge fan of my iPhone, I am not going to get into a religious war over the "best" smartphone platform.** If you are a fan of Andriod, cool. Some other smartphone, more power to you. I like how my iPhone works and really enjoy the applications available for it.
** I also don't partake in religious wars over Unix editors (I'm an emacs fan, but can sort of use vi) or other things. I appreciate it when I find value or usability in a tool, an OS and really appreciate the difference between my Strats and my Les Paul.
I admit am not always up-to-date on things and probably behind the curve on a number of apps. That being said, I freely admit to getting very excited when I discover a new app with a high coolness factor. One such recent discovery is 'Starmap'.
I like the idea of looking at the stars, but I am in no way close to being a hobby astronomer. The best I can do is find polaris. I've often thought about buying a telescope, but have not yet done so. For me, I enjoy looking up at the stars, wish I could better identify things and I look forward to getting the chance to see the Milky Way again.
When I heard that the Persied meteor shower should be in view this week, I got a little excited. After reading a Wired article about how best to view the meteor shower, the article's instructions were pretty simple, locate the constellation Perseus around midnight.*
* This is for folks in the Northern Hemisphere, Eldoret by virtue of being located 30 minutes north of the equator put me just barely in the north.
Sounded simple enough, except I had no idea where to find the Perseus constellation. Ah but there are Smart Phones and entrepreneurs abound. The Wired article also included a iPhone app recommendation for the Astronomy-challenged like me in the aforementioned Starmap app.* A quick $12 purchase and I was all set.**
* They was also a recommendation for Android users.
** $12 US seemed expensive when I first saw the price, but the reviews for the app were stellar and I decided to purchase the app anyway.
Starmap makes use of the iPhone 3GS (and 4) built in compass to help average folks locate and identify celestial objects in the sky. The first night I used it, I had so much fun. I quickly identified Mars, Venus, Saturn and a few other stars.* It was all very very exciting.
* I could clearly see Mars' red color without the aid of a telescope or binoculars.
As for the meteor shower. Well, I missed out. The midnight viewing made it quite tough for me. I'm usually up at 5:00 AM, which means that by 22:30-23:00, I'm out for the night. Oh well, I hope that I can glimpse the Leonid meteor shower in November. Until then, on clear nights, I'll be using Starmap and this may result in my buying a telescope.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
To Be Done
A bit of break through today. I was able to answer the “what is to be done?” question. Ready?
Well... not just yet.
I mentioned in earlier that it would be nice to do a full ITIL implementation. Though I still don’t fully understand it all, I have learned enough to formulate a framework for what needs to be addressed. Before revealing all that, a bit on ITIL.
ITIL in a nutshell, is a set of best practices on IT Service Management. What is service management? According to the ITIL folks...
“The primary objective of Service Management is to ensure that the IT services are aligned to the business needs and actively support them. It is imperative that the IT services underpin the business processes, but it is also increasingly important that IT acts as an agent for change to facilitate business transformation.”
In short, IT can both support and drive an organization.
The Informatics Core of AMPATH has done an amazing job collectively supporting the efforts up until now. With the decision to fully embrace the mission of delivering primary health care, the informatics group here in Kenya and in Indianapolis recognized that a more structured organization was needed to meet the needs of the changing mission. As mentioned earlier very little focus was paid on some basic infrastructure things that most IT operations take for granted. There simply wasn’t time; attacking the health care problems and the related issues took center stage. And now it is time to put some of that into place, while not stopping the other work.
I’ve been on the job now here in Kenya for just over three weeks. And in that time, I have just moved beneath the surface of things. I know enough now to be able to prescribe the framework of what we need to do. The specifics will start to come in over the next few weeks. The framework recognizes the mission of AMPATH and the vision for the ISC core.*
* Our vision, "We will be massively successful as the Health Care Informatics Services provider in Western Kenya." **
** The vision was actually expressed over cheeseburgers at a local place called "Sizzler's Cafe." I wrote down the vision statement on a napkin, taken word-for-word. Oh, I should add that the cheeseburgers at Sizzler's Cafe are quite good, I highly recommend the “chilly burger with cheese."
So the framework...
In the next two years, the ISC will improve the overall service delivery in terms of capacity management, availability management, service continuity management. In addition, we will look to improve service support in the areas of incident management, problem management, project management, change management and release management. We recognize the importance of measuring the impact of the changes to demonstrate that this effort will add value to the organization, so part of our efforts will include developing evaluation tools. Given the work that will be undertaking, we hope to start addressing issues related to financial management, service level management and configuration management.
Simple right? Well, the devil is always in the details and I'm not yet sure what all those details are. I will expand upon each area of the framework in the coming days so you will know what exactly this all means.*
* Gives me something to write about and hopefully will keep you, the reader, riveted!
I am excited tonight, this is something we build on and use in creating the strategic plan and operationalize that plan.
Well... not just yet.
I mentioned in earlier that it would be nice to do a full ITIL implementation. Though I still don’t fully understand it all, I have learned enough to formulate a framework for what needs to be addressed. Before revealing all that, a bit on ITIL.
ITIL in a nutshell, is a set of best practices on IT Service Management. What is service management? According to the ITIL folks...
“The primary objective of Service Management is to ensure that the IT services are aligned to the business needs and actively support them. It is imperative that the IT services underpin the business processes, but it is also increasingly important that IT acts as an agent for change to facilitate business transformation.”
In short, IT can both support and drive an organization.
The Informatics Core of AMPATH has done an amazing job collectively supporting the efforts up until now. With the decision to fully embrace the mission of delivering primary health care, the informatics group here in Kenya and in Indianapolis recognized that a more structured organization was needed to meet the needs of the changing mission. As mentioned earlier very little focus was paid on some basic infrastructure things that most IT operations take for granted. There simply wasn’t time; attacking the health care problems and the related issues took center stage. And now it is time to put some of that into place, while not stopping the other work.
I’ve been on the job now here in Kenya for just over three weeks. And in that time, I have just moved beneath the surface of things. I know enough now to be able to prescribe the framework of what we need to do. The specifics will start to come in over the next few weeks. The framework recognizes the mission of AMPATH and the vision for the ISC core.*
* Our vision, "We will be massively successful as the Health Care Informatics Services provider in Western Kenya." **
** The vision was actually expressed over cheeseburgers at a local place called "Sizzler's Cafe." I wrote down the vision statement on a napkin, taken word-for-word. Oh, I should add that the cheeseburgers at Sizzler's Cafe are quite good, I highly recommend the “chilly burger with cheese."
So the framework...
In the next two years, the ISC will improve the overall service delivery in terms of capacity management, availability management, service continuity management. In addition, we will look to improve service support in the areas of incident management, problem management, project management, change management and release management. We recognize the importance of measuring the impact of the changes to demonstrate that this effort will add value to the organization, so part of our efforts will include developing evaluation tools. Given the work that will be undertaking, we hope to start addressing issues related to financial management, service level management and configuration management.
Simple right? Well, the devil is always in the details and I'm not yet sure what all those details are. I will expand upon each area of the framework in the coming days so you will know what exactly this all means.*
* Gives me something to write about and hopefully will keep you, the reader, riveted!
I am excited tonight, this is something we build on and use in creating the strategic plan and operationalize that plan.
Standard Operating Procedures
One of the things that I did manage to accomplish last week was putting together a guide to writing a standard operating procedure (SOP).* It was a good exercise and the initial result should contribute to making the AMPATH ISC more organized and ordered. There is a great deal of tacit knowledge here and we need to make that information more formal or explicit.
* I mentioned previously about not knowing where to start things. I do not want to give the impression that nothing has been started. We have started the process of identifying current IT projects, planning new IT and IT management projects and are working to revamp the IT procurement process. As we embark on just these few things, we find other areas that need attention. And those other areas reveal additional things. I guess it is like painting, if you paint one room, you then notice that the floors need to be redone, the other rooms need work to.
Establishing SOPs is just one thing being introduce to help meet the day-to-day operations challenges at AMPATH. Other things on the list include implementing more standard project management practices, change management and service management.* No truth to the reports of implementing TPS Reports.
* It would be nice to do a full ITIL implementation**, but I don't fully understand what that entails and from what little I do know, I think it is a too big an enchilada to try all at once.
** The Information Technology Infrastructure Library, a nice set of best practices and a bit of a rage these days. Also of interest (and the subject of a future post) is the concept of Enterprise Architecture.
The plan now is to distribute the SOP guide to the rest of the team for feedback and comments.* And begin testing the guide on some simple SOPs. The feedback and comments along with the testing should help make for a good first version of the guide. I have stressed continuously here at AMPATH and in my previous position that such documents should be considered living and be open to revision.
* Our own little RFC (Request for Comments). It is always worth sharing, the hope is that the feedback will make things stronger.
Why there were no such guidelines in place is a topic for another time. Maybe next time. For now, I have to get ready for work.
* I mentioned previously about not knowing where to start things. I do not want to give the impression that nothing has been started. We have started the process of identifying current IT projects, planning new IT and IT management projects and are working to revamp the IT procurement process. As we embark on just these few things, we find other areas that need attention. And those other areas reveal additional things. I guess it is like painting, if you paint one room, you then notice that the floors need to be redone, the other rooms need work to.
Establishing SOPs is just one thing being introduce to help meet the day-to-day operations challenges at AMPATH. Other things on the list include implementing more standard project management practices, change management and service management.* No truth to the reports of implementing TPS Reports.
* It would be nice to do a full ITIL implementation**, but I don't fully understand what that entails and from what little I do know, I think it is a too big an enchilada to try all at once.
** The Information Technology Infrastructure Library, a nice set of best practices and a bit of a rage these days. Also of interest (and the subject of a future post) is the concept of Enterprise Architecture.
The plan now is to distribute the SOP guide to the rest of the team for feedback and comments.* And begin testing the guide on some simple SOPs. The feedback and comments along with the testing should help make for a good first version of the guide. I have stressed continuously here at AMPATH and in my previous position that such documents should be considered living and be open to revision.
* Our own little RFC (Request for Comments). It is always worth sharing, the hope is that the feedback will make things stronger.
Why there were no such guidelines in place is a topic for another time. Maybe next time. For now, I have to get ready for work.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Perspective When in the Forest
As I stated earlier the biggest issue I faced lately given the number of things needed to implement, I feel a more than a little overwhelmed. Worse than that, given all that is needed, it is tough to figure out exactly where to start. Starting with one thing soon reveals that another piece is missing. To address that other piece soon reveals a whole other set of things to do. It can really drive you nuts. No choice is ideal and all choices bring about some element of compromise.
When you're in the middle of all of this, you can truly get lost in the forest. And last week some perspective on things would have helped out a great deal. But instead, on friday, I left feeling really ill-at-ease with things and more than a little overwhelmed.
The feeling carried over through the weekend, it really affected me. I tried to have some fun, I did have the chance to spend some time chatting with friends back home and the routine chores helped distract me a bit. However, the challenges of work never completely left my mind. It troubled me through this morning.
I realized this morning that I needed a meeting with myself to find some small piece of perspective. To organize things and try to map out the week ahead. I had to remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.*
* Actually I learned today that this is not the correct translation of the Lao-Tzu quote. The Quotations Page website has a nice translation of the actual quote.
So, I took 20 minutes this morning to meet with myself and examine the past week, what things happened and what was accomplished. I also spent some time mapping out the week ahead. I found some measure of relief through this exercise. Recognizing some progress has been made. There is stil much to be done, one big exercise is the strategic plan, and this will begin to dominate my days over the next few weeks. All-in-all not great but not a disaster either. Call it a work in progress.
Perspective, its a good thing.
When you're in the middle of all of this, you can truly get lost in the forest. And last week some perspective on things would have helped out a great deal. But instead, on friday, I left feeling really ill-at-ease with things and more than a little overwhelmed.
The feeling carried over through the weekend, it really affected me. I tried to have some fun, I did have the chance to spend some time chatting with friends back home and the routine chores helped distract me a bit. However, the challenges of work never completely left my mind. It troubled me through this morning.
I realized this morning that I needed a meeting with myself to find some small piece of perspective. To organize things and try to map out the week ahead. I had to remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.*
* Actually I learned today that this is not the correct translation of the Lao-Tzu quote. The Quotations Page website has a nice translation of the actual quote.
So, I took 20 minutes this morning to meet with myself and examine the past week, what things happened and what was accomplished. I also spent some time mapping out the week ahead. I found some measure of relief through this exercise. Recognizing some progress has been made. There is stil much to be done, one big exercise is the strategic plan, and this will begin to dominate my days over the next few weeks. All-in-all not great but not a disaster either. Call it a work in progress.
Perspective, its a good thing.
Struggling to Put into Words
I've been struggling a bit, trying to put down in words what I have been going through over the past several days. I tried to write the perfect blog, set down something very eloquent, but ended up with a huge pile of nothing. This is how I end up with writers block, and I'm not even a writer.
So rather than try to force something through, I thought I would just write about not being able to write anything meaningful.* I think it will be therapeutic and hopefully not too annoying.
* The idea for this is actually something I recall reading about Bono of U2. In an interview he gave back during the Unforgettable Fire period, he spoke about this very subject. When suffering from writers block, Bono mentioned that he would being writing about having a block. If I recall the article correctly, I believe this helped him write the song "The Unforgettable Fire".
I think I ended up in the position not because I want to write the perfect entry, but rather I simply felt overwhelmed with what needs to be done. The informatics operations have been in place for a number of years and the folks here in partnership with Regenstrief have done some amazing things. However, a lot of basic infrastructure things that are so critical as operations expand were overlooked. AMPATH is moving towards being a major deliverer of primary health care to a good chunk of Kenya. For the ISC to support that effort, requires that all those overlooked infrastructure elements must now be put into place. The only trouble is the AMPATH train is not going to slow down or stop to allow us to fix things. Work continues and all the amazing things are still needed.
So given this and other constraints I really got a bit lost trying to sort everything out. Writing about it was too hard, and honestly I just wasn't able to organize my thoughts in to anything coherent.*
* I think I had four or five drafts of various different blog posts. None of them were very good and most were beginning to sound like rants. There is some content that will be reused (it wasn't al a rant).
Today things are a little better, I was able to get some perspective and managed to notice some positives. So I hope things are again looking up. Take it day-by-day.
So rather than try to force something through, I thought I would just write about not being able to write anything meaningful.* I think it will be therapeutic and hopefully not too annoying.
* The idea for this is actually something I recall reading about Bono of U2. In an interview he gave back during the Unforgettable Fire period, he spoke about this very subject. When suffering from writers block, Bono mentioned that he would being writing about having a block. If I recall the article correctly, I believe this helped him write the song "The Unforgettable Fire".
I think I ended up in the position not because I want to write the perfect entry, but rather I simply felt overwhelmed with what needs to be done. The informatics operations have been in place for a number of years and the folks here in partnership with Regenstrief have done some amazing things. However, a lot of basic infrastructure things that are so critical as operations expand were overlooked. AMPATH is moving towards being a major deliverer of primary health care to a good chunk of Kenya. For the ISC to support that effort, requires that all those overlooked infrastructure elements must now be put into place. The only trouble is the AMPATH train is not going to slow down or stop to allow us to fix things. Work continues and all the amazing things are still needed.
So given this and other constraints I really got a bit lost trying to sort everything out. Writing about it was too hard, and honestly I just wasn't able to organize my thoughts in to anything coherent.*
* I think I had four or five drafts of various different blog posts. None of them were very good and most were beginning to sound like rants. There is some content that will be reused (it wasn't al a rant).
Today things are a little better, I was able to get some perspective and managed to notice some positives. So I hope things are again looking up. Take it day-by-day.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Catching Up
Some things I am thinking about writing about over the next few days include:
* I know this to be the title of a political pamphlet by V.I. Lenin.** The pamphlet is Lenin's call to organize a vanguard revolutionary party to direct the working class of Russia. I read the pamphlet once and don't remember much of it. What has always stuck with me has been the title, I really like it.
** I recently learned that Lenin was inspired by a novel of same name written by Nikolai Chernyshevsky.
- The referendum
- Project Management
- Standard Operating Procedures
- What is to be Done*
- Buying a POTS phone
* I know this to be the title of a political pamphlet by V.I. Lenin.** The pamphlet is Lenin's call to organize a vanguard revolutionary party to direct the working class of Russia. I read the pamphlet once and don't remember much of it. What has always stuck with me has been the title, I really like it.
** I recently learned that Lenin was inspired by a novel of same name written by Nikolai Chernyshevsky.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The Small Things
Sometimes the small and silly things can make a huge difference. Tonight was a case in point. I finally got my iPhone unlocked so I can use it here in Kenya. There is much rejoicing right now; I'm really acting like a kid at Christmas.
I really wish AT&T were more understanding about people leaving the country for an extended period of time (like say 2 years) and their desire to use the iPhone outside of AT&T's zone of control. I completely understand that they have subsidized the cost of my phone and I am more than happy to pay them the subsidy. It is only fair. But when I called them asking to have my phone unlocked due to my leaving the country, they flat out refused to help me. This was after offering to reimburse them for the subsidy. They wouldn't do a thing for me.
I really appreciate my iPhone, it is a great device. It works well in my environment and the apps actually help me in my everyday life. Since AT&T were going to be no help to me, I figured that I would simply unlock the phone. Trouble is, the iPhone Dev Team folks had not released their jailbreak software for my phone.* All of which meant that I spent the last three weeks using a very basic Nokia phone, while my iPhone became essentially an iPod Touch.
* The Dev Team guys are great, I really appreciate their hard work and even happier that the Library of Congress stated that jailbreaking is A-Okay.
Ah, but then a couple of days ago, the Dev Team came through and released the jailbreak code. They did a great job, the whole process was effortless and soon after jailbreaking, I unlocked my phone, swapped out SIM cards and life is very very very good again!
Yes, it is silly and very nerdy of me to get so excited. But since I cannot have pancakes for a few more weeks, I need something!*
* I have some maple syrup and vanilla extract coming soon. Hope my friend can find the maple extract too, but the syrup is unexpected and much appreciated.
So, I go to bed tonight with my iPhone active once again. I need to add some minutes so I can make a few calls, but that won't happen until I am jailbroken from the IU house.
I really wish AT&T were more understanding about people leaving the country for an extended period of time (like say 2 years) and their desire to use the iPhone outside of AT&T's zone of control. I completely understand that they have subsidized the cost of my phone and I am more than happy to pay them the subsidy. It is only fair. But when I called them asking to have my phone unlocked due to my leaving the country, they flat out refused to help me. This was after offering to reimburse them for the subsidy. They wouldn't do a thing for me.
I really appreciate my iPhone, it is a great device. It works well in my environment and the apps actually help me in my everyday life. Since AT&T were going to be no help to me, I figured that I would simply unlock the phone. Trouble is, the iPhone Dev Team folks had not released their jailbreak software for my phone.* All of which meant that I spent the last three weeks using a very basic Nokia phone, while my iPhone became essentially an iPod Touch.
* The Dev Team guys are great, I really appreciate their hard work and even happier that the Library of Congress stated that jailbreaking is A-Okay.
Ah, but then a couple of days ago, the Dev Team came through and released the jailbreak code. They did a great job, the whole process was effortless and soon after jailbreaking, I unlocked my phone, swapped out SIM cards and life is very very very good again!
Yes, it is silly and very nerdy of me to get so excited. But since I cannot have pancakes for a few more weeks, I need something!*
* I have some maple syrup and vanilla extract coming soon. Hope my friend can find the maple extract too, but the syrup is unexpected and much appreciated.
So, I go to bed tonight with my iPhone active once again. I need to add some minutes so I can make a few calls, but that won't happen until I am jailbroken from the IU house.
On the Kenya Referendum
All the AMPATH expats are "confined" to the Indiana University housing compound tomorrow and possibly on Thursday. Kenyans are going to vote on a new constitution tomorrow and if it passes (as it is expected to) the outcomes could bring forth an entirely new Kenya. Being here is pretty exciting, how often can you be witness to a wholesale change in the governance of a country.
So why the lock down?
Well the story begins in the aftermath of the last major election. The vote count lead to accusations of voter fraud nearly lead to the country exploding. In towns in and around the Rift Valley (including Eldoret), a number Kenyans went to war against each other. I wasn't witness to the events and I have only heard a few stories. I cannot imagine how terrifying it was for locals who were caught in the middle of the insanity.
No one really expected the violence and so many were caught off guard. I believe that prior to the last election, the AMPATH folks had most of the expats leave the area. Or the evacuated most everyone shortly after things got a little crazy. This time, as with the last election, no one expects anything bad to happen, but for safety's sake, they want to keep everyone out of harms way.
I have mixed feelings about this. I have work to do and don't like being "forced" to stay home.* Also, a part of me is interested in seeing what could be history in the making. I expressed a wish that I could be a photo journalist for a day or two to record the events.
* I want to be home when everyone is at work. It is not fun playing hooky when everyone else is.
So tomorrow, I'll be at the housing compound. Since everyone will be around it should make for a great wiffle ball game and dodgeball (both are planned). I'll have some fun, do some work and wonder what is going on down the road in town. I hope nothing more than people voting.
So why the lock down?
Well the story begins in the aftermath of the last major election. The vote count lead to accusations of voter fraud nearly lead to the country exploding. In towns in and around the Rift Valley (including Eldoret), a number Kenyans went to war against each other. I wasn't witness to the events and I have only heard a few stories. I cannot imagine how terrifying it was for locals who were caught in the middle of the insanity.
No one really expected the violence and so many were caught off guard. I believe that prior to the last election, the AMPATH folks had most of the expats leave the area. Or the evacuated most everyone shortly after things got a little crazy. This time, as with the last election, no one expects anything bad to happen, but for safety's sake, they want to keep everyone out of harms way.
I have mixed feelings about this. I have work to do and don't like being "forced" to stay home.* Also, a part of me is interested in seeing what could be history in the making. I expressed a wish that I could be a photo journalist for a day or two to record the events.
* I want to be home when everyone is at work. It is not fun playing hooky when everyone else is.
So tomorrow, I'll be at the housing compound. Since everyone will be around it should make for a great wiffle ball game and dodgeball (both are planned). I'll have some fun, do some work and wonder what is going on down the road in town. I hope nothing more than people voting.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Pancakes, Digestives and Potato Crisps
Starting my third week in Kenya and I have begun to feel a bit homesick for things back home. I miss seeing my friends, baseball, pizza, my bicycle and pancakes. I've really been craving pancakes lately and it is not like there is an IHOP anywhere nearby.* So what is a new expat to do? Make them from scratch and be happy. Not so fast, there is no maple syrup here, nor the log cabin imitation stuff. What is available is Google and the power of the Internet. Searching around, I have found a few recipes for homemake pancake syrup. Back on a role!
* International? Right!
Not so fast though, all the recipes call for vanilla and maple extract. I have seen the vanilla extract but none of the stores here carry the other stuff. Doh! All is not lost, I can get the ingredients that I need, though I will have to wait for a bit.
I have learned that the AMPATH expats rely on a regular caravan of things from USA via the regular back and forth of new trainees. If you can get what you need to someone coming over, life becomes less hard. So, I have been ordering some stuff and asking friends to send some other things to Indianapolis for eventual transfer here. It is not the most efficient, but it works.
Some colleagues from Indianapolis are heading out to Eldoret towards the end of August. So, I have enlisted them to bring me some luxury items* including the maple extract. Other friends from the New York area will help me get other things to Indianapolis and I'm really grateful for their help. I will make pancakes! It may take a few weeks, but it will happen. I will report back on my success.
* I have in mind a longer post on luxury items and the way we go about getting things to Eldoret.
Life is not all depressing, I have found things that I know I will miss when it is time for me to leave Kenya. Two things immediately come to mind, digestive biscuits and chilli lemon potato crisps. The biscuits are pretty well known and common. Quite tasty with a cup of tea (the chocolate covered ones are a new favorite of mine). The crisps are a local product and this is one of those things that people will definitely have to bring back to me after I have left. They have a nice spicy kick and go well with either a cold coke or a cold bottle of Tusker (a not so bad lager).
All-in-all things are not so bad and there is some potential.* Not that this makes up for missing my friends, but it could be worse. So I am keeping positive.
* I may have a lead on a shop in Nairobi where I can get my guitar amp.
* International? Right!
Not so fast though, all the recipes call for vanilla and maple extract. I have seen the vanilla extract but none of the stores here carry the other stuff. Doh! All is not lost, I can get the ingredients that I need, though I will have to wait for a bit.
I have learned that the AMPATH expats rely on a regular caravan of things from USA via the regular back and forth of new trainees. If you can get what you need to someone coming over, life becomes less hard. So, I have been ordering some stuff and asking friends to send some other things to Indianapolis for eventual transfer here. It is not the most efficient, but it works.
Some colleagues from Indianapolis are heading out to Eldoret towards the end of August. So, I have enlisted them to bring me some luxury items* including the maple extract. Other friends from the New York area will help me get other things to Indianapolis and I'm really grateful for their help. I will make pancakes! It may take a few weeks, but it will happen. I will report back on my success.
* I have in mind a longer post on luxury items and the way we go about getting things to Eldoret.
Life is not all depressing, I have found things that I know I will miss when it is time for me to leave Kenya. Two things immediately come to mind, digestive biscuits and chilli lemon potato crisps. The biscuits are pretty well known and common. Quite tasty with a cup of tea (the chocolate covered ones are a new favorite of mine). The crisps are a local product and this is one of those things that people will definitely have to bring back to me after I have left. They have a nice spicy kick and go well with either a cold coke or a cold bottle of Tusker (a not so bad lager).
All-in-all things are not so bad and there is some potential.* Not that this makes up for missing my friends, but it could be worse. So I am keeping positive.
* I may have a lead on a shop in Nairobi where I can get my guitar amp.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Disappointing
So, I was all set to write a few posts about project management, making pancakes and syrup from scratch, and getting caught up in the rain. But, that got derailed by some very disappointing news.
Sometime during the previous night, someone or some group broke into the one of the AMPATH offices and stole a bunch of computer equipment. Included in the theft was approximately 23 desktop PCs and at least one printer. I don't yet have the full inventory, the room was closed off pending investigation by the police.
What is so very sad is that this equipment is used by some very dedicated individuals to contribute to the overall AMPATH mission. Since starting work in Kenya, I have been very impressed with the dedication of the AMPATH staff that I have met. There a very special spirit here. Folks that I have met understand that their work is contributing to make things better for Kenya. It is really amazing how much the team cares; their commitment and dedication are first rate.
Upon learning of the theft, I just felt so bad. In addition, I felt upset and very disappointed towards a portion of humanity. To take like that, it is inexcusable.
At this point, we don't know how it happened, except that it has. We will recover and will learn some valuable lessons in the process. During lunch with a colleague today we immediately started to discuss the steps that must be put into place to prevent a repeat occurrence or worse. I'll spend a chunk of my day tomorrow working on a plan to beef up physical security of our IT assets.
Sometime during the previous night, someone or some group broke into the one of the AMPATH offices and stole a bunch of computer equipment. Included in the theft was approximately 23 desktop PCs and at least one printer. I don't yet have the full inventory, the room was closed off pending investigation by the police.
What is so very sad is that this equipment is used by some very dedicated individuals to contribute to the overall AMPATH mission. Since starting work in Kenya, I have been very impressed with the dedication of the AMPATH staff that I have met. There a very special spirit here. Folks that I have met understand that their work is contributing to make things better for Kenya. It is really amazing how much the team cares; their commitment and dedication are first rate.
Upon learning of the theft, I just felt so bad. In addition, I felt upset and very disappointed towards a portion of humanity. To take like that, it is inexcusable.
At this point, we don't know how it happened, except that it has. We will recover and will learn some valuable lessons in the process. During lunch with a colleague today we immediately started to discuss the steps that must be put into place to prevent a repeat occurrence or worse. I'll spend a chunk of my day tomorrow working on a plan to beef up physical security of our IT assets.
Trying to Watch the Stars in a Blackout
A long time ago on a continent far away, I went camping for the first time in the High Sierra Nevada mountains in California. We camped at this place called Mosquito Flats at an elevation of about 3,050 meters (10,000 feet).* Camping there was just loads of fun in all respects, at night however the view of the sky was just amazing. Being so high up and so far from any source of light pollution, you could see so many stars. I believe it was the first time I saw the Milky Way. I recall being so amazed at the sheer size and brilliance of the galaxy, it was in a word spectacular.
* The name Mosquito Flats is an apt description for this place. There were plenty of mosquitos around and bug repellant is a very good friend.
Eldoret sits at an elevation of about 2,400 meters (~8,000 ft), plus or minus 300 meters. So, I was looking forward to seeing more stars at night and hopefully catch a glimpse of the Milky Way. I can certainly see more things in the night sky here than back home, but light pollution is a reality here too. It is a problem in more-and-more places all over the world. Modernity comes with a price.
I am not advocating for turning off all the lights and returning to some world of old. My work and life consume vast amounts of power and I do prefer having my computer, iPad, lights, refrigeration. Still, it is nice to see the stars. So, when it comes to a power outage at night, I get a bit excited. Given how high up Eldoret sits, I was actually looking forward to my first power outage. It happened last night, I experienced the first power failure last night. It didn't last long, maybe 30-40 minutes total.
Great!
Except for the one thing that made it impossible to catch a glimpse of the night sky, clouds! It was overcast. I was a bit disappointed.* I guess it could have been worse.**
* I realize that I need to buy some candles and candle holders.*** I ended up folding the laundry and it is not easy to do so with only a flashlight.
** Two things (a two for one):
One of my all time favorites movie lines comes from "Young Frankenstien", when Gene Wilder as the "Young Frankenstein" and Marty Feldman as his assistant "Igor" are digging the monster from the grave.
Frankenstein, "This is a filthy job".
Igor: could be worse.
Frankenstein: How?
Igor: Could be raining. (cue thunder and rain)
Two, experiencing the Northeast blackout of 2003, I can say worse is 90+ degree weather with like 70-80% humidity constitutes "worse".
*** I was at the Nakumatt yesterday shopping and saw the shelf filled with lanterns. I thought they were neat but discounted the need to have one. I am now reconsidering. BTW, Nakumatt is a local version of an all-in-one supermarket. You can get everything from groceries, to hardware, clothing, electronics, kitchen stuff, and motorcycles. It is sort of like a brick-and-mortar Amazon.com.
I am trying to categorize last nights non-event event in baseball terms. A black out, at elevation with cloudy skies. Is that a strike, ball, a 500 foot line drive that just hooks foul? Hit by pitch? Not quite a rain out.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Winter Symposiums in Kenya
My friends routinely want to know how hot it is in Africa. I can't speak for all of Africa, it is a pretty big continent after all. But I will say that it is downright cold here. The high today was reported to be 22º C (72º F), right now it is 15º C (69º F).* I am willing to swear that it never got to 22º today and I am seriously doubtful that we made it to 15º.
* Kenya, like most of the world follows the metric system. I'm trying to adjust and use metric measurements as often as I remember.
It is winter in Eldoret, Kenya, which at first may seem strange. Eldoret is located at about 30' north of the equator and when you live near the equator winter should just not be a factor. That is what I thought before leaving the sweltering summer of New York. However, some things you should know. First off, Eldoret sits at between 2100 and 2700 meters (7000-9000 feet) above sea level and this keeps temperatures generally pretty mild, falling within a narrow range of 22-30º C (75-85º F) during the day. Also, as the sun moves north during the northern summer, the temperatures here go down and the rains come.*
* If you want to visit Kenya, avoid the coming from June to September. Unless you happen to like mud and rain.
I attended an Informatics Symposium today, held at the Naiberi Campsite and Resort, about 30 minutes away from the AMPATH Center in Eldoret.* I and most of those in attendance were freezing the whole morning and a good part of the afternoon. It was cold enough that the staff brought in a bunch of coal fired heaters (I believe they are called Jikos) to try warm everyone up. Unfortunately, the room was too large for the jikos to have much effect.** It was not that much fun sitting there trying to keep warm.
* From what I little I could see of the place, it seems quite nice. The staff took good care of us and provided a very good and filling lunch.
** The jikos did have a positive effect in that they became natural places for us to gather around and talk while warming our hands. It made me think about depression era scenes of folks standing around an open flame trying to keep warm.
This was the first day of a two day symposium organized to explore ways to develop the local human capacity for health care informatics in East Africa. In attendance were people from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. We spent the day covering a number of topics. For me, it was a great opportunity to better understand the challenges ahead and to meet others who are engaged in similar work as me. More on all this later.
* Kenya, like most of the world follows the metric system. I'm trying to adjust and use metric measurements as often as I remember.
It is winter in Eldoret, Kenya, which at first may seem strange. Eldoret is located at about 30' north of the equator and when you live near the equator winter should just not be a factor. That is what I thought before leaving the sweltering summer of New York. However, some things you should know. First off, Eldoret sits at between 2100 and 2700 meters (7000-9000 feet) above sea level and this keeps temperatures generally pretty mild, falling within a narrow range of 22-30º C (75-85º F) during the day. Also, as the sun moves north during the northern summer, the temperatures here go down and the rains come.*
* If you want to visit Kenya, avoid the coming from June to September. Unless you happen to like mud and rain.
I attended an Informatics Symposium today, held at the Naiberi Campsite and Resort, about 30 minutes away from the AMPATH Center in Eldoret.* I and most of those in attendance were freezing the whole morning and a good part of the afternoon. It was cold enough that the staff brought in a bunch of coal fired heaters (I believe they are called Jikos) to try warm everyone up. Unfortunately, the room was too large for the jikos to have much effect.** It was not that much fun sitting there trying to keep warm.
* From what I little I could see of the place, it seems quite nice. The staff took good care of us and provided a very good and filling lunch.
** The jikos did have a positive effect in that they became natural places for us to gather around and talk while warming our hands. It made me think about depression era scenes of folks standing around an open flame trying to keep warm.
This was the first day of a two day symposium organized to explore ways to develop the local human capacity for health care informatics in East Africa. In attendance were people from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya. We spent the day covering a number of topics. For me, it was a great opportunity to better understand the challenges ahead and to meet others who are engaged in similar work as me. More on all this later.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Meetings
I've been in a lot of meetings this week. Some have been back-to-back-to-back affairs that have left me pretty exhausted. But I find myself not too put off by them.
As a general rule, I REALLY don't like meetings. Well, let me clarify that, I loathe meetings! I developed this loathing over the years because many of the meetings I have attended have been poorly organized and even more poorly executed. I end up wishing that I had a book to read or my laptop to do some work or maybe a major server disruption to rescue me.*
* When I got my iPhone and later my iPad, I found I could get some work done and while trying not to be so obvious that I was not paying attention.
When I think about it, I really don't loathe meetings in general, I loathe unorganized and poorly planned meetings. Those that are well run and unorganized don't bother me so much. This little epiphany or "what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity"* came about after reading "How to Run a Meeting" by Antony Jay (published back in 1976).
* Never thought I would pull something from Pulp Fiction into a blog piece about meetings. If you don't know the line, watch the movie.
In the article, Jay gives great advice for those planning to or who are now running a meeting or meetings. Hey talks about various reasons for having a meeting in the first place and reasons why some meetings should just go away. There should be an objective for the meeting and things ought to be planned out in advanced.
I don't know if it is just me who hates free-for-all meetings or ones that just go nowhere. But I now know my preferences and will strive to run my meetings in the fashion presented in the article. I have read the article more than once and plan to refresh my memory with it from time-to-time. I hate my time being wasted and I would hate to be guilty of wasting someone else's time.
I will buy a copy of the article and give it to one my colleagues. Not because he is guilty of running poor meetings, rather he is learning to be a manager. I want him to at least be exposed to what I consider to be a "best practice" for running a meeting and let him figure out what works and what doesn't.
Getting back to my meetings in Kenya, as I said, they have not given me cause to complain. The are better organized, more focused and moderated so we keep on point.*
* I can deal with back-to-back-to-back meetings so long as I have time to get some caffeine in the form of a Coke (or two).
As a general rule, I REALLY don't like meetings. Well, let me clarify that, I loathe meetings! I developed this loathing over the years because many of the meetings I have attended have been poorly organized and even more poorly executed. I end up wishing that I had a book to read or my laptop to do some work or maybe a major server disruption to rescue me.*
* When I got my iPhone and later my iPad, I found I could get some work done and while trying not to be so obvious that I was not paying attention.
When I think about it, I really don't loathe meetings in general, I loathe unorganized and poorly planned meetings. Those that are well run and unorganized don't bother me so much. This little epiphany or "what alcoholics refer to as a moment of clarity"* came about after reading "How to Run a Meeting" by Antony Jay (published back in 1976).
* Never thought I would pull something from Pulp Fiction into a blog piece about meetings. If you don't know the line, watch the movie.
In the article, Jay gives great advice for those planning to or who are now running a meeting or meetings. Hey talks about various reasons for having a meeting in the first place and reasons why some meetings should just go away. There should be an objective for the meeting and things ought to be planned out in advanced.
I don't know if it is just me who hates free-for-all meetings or ones that just go nowhere. But I now know my preferences and will strive to run my meetings in the fashion presented in the article. I have read the article more than once and plan to refresh my memory with it from time-to-time. I hate my time being wasted and I would hate to be guilty of wasting someone else's time.
I will buy a copy of the article and give it to one my colleagues. Not because he is guilty of running poor meetings, rather he is learning to be a manager. I want him to at least be exposed to what I consider to be a "best practice" for running a meeting and let him figure out what works and what doesn't.
Getting back to my meetings in Kenya, as I said, they have not given me cause to complain. The are better organized, more focused and moderated so we keep on point.*
* I can deal with back-to-back-to-back meetings so long as I have time to get some caffeine in the form of a Coke (or two).
Saturday, July 24, 2010
7 IP, 5H, 1ER, 4SO, 1BB. Mets 6, Dodger 1
I am a baseball fan and more specifically a New York Mets fan.* Leaving the New York area meant that I would no longer have the ability to watch Mets games on the TV. I do have Internet access and figured I would give MLB.tv a try, given the time difference I figure that I could catch some of the games in the morning when I woke up or in the evening. Of course I would know the outcome, but just watching the game would be good enough.
* I am a big fan of Nick Hornby's book "Fever Pitch". If you haven't read the book, it is about being a fan the Arsenal football club and how his love has impacted his life. I relate very much to Hornby's connection to the "Gunners" (I'm not as consumed as he is, at least I don't think so**). Hornby's story describes in part how the Arsenal disappoint more than they satisfy, but when they do achieve it is Amazing! I think Mets fans can relate very much to this. Yankee and ManU fans will just never fully understand the thrill of winning it all.
** Does having three Mets jerseys (two authentic and one replica), three Mets baseball caps, a blanket, and a few t-shirts count as consumed? None of the jerseys have names and numbers on them, though I thought about it. And the blanket was bought because it was cold at a Sunday game in 2008. Rationalization, hmmm could be a problem.
** Does having three Mets jerseys (two authentic and one replica), three Mets baseball caps, a blanket, and a few t-shirts count as consumed? None of the jerseys have names and numbers on them, though I thought about it. And the blanket was bought because it was cold at a Sunday game in 2008. Rationalization, hmmm could be a problem.
The New York Mets are currently on West Coast road trip, so their games are start at 10:00 PM EDT (5:00 AM in Eldoret). So it is possible for me to get up and actually watch the game live. I didn't make it up that early today, but I did get up in time to catch the 8th inning. Good enough for me. Any baseball is better than no baseball.
Unfortunately, at the Internet speed at the IU house is not that fast. After about 5 minutes of trying, I simply could not get the video feed to come up. Internet speed is decent, but certain not blistering fast here. I can do work things such as email, web research, browsing. For more intensive things like downloading patch clusters, Linux isos and watching MLB.tv, well Kenya (or the IU compound) is not there. I'm confident they will be someday.
All was not lost, I was able to listen to Howie Rose call the final three outs via the radio feed. Which is plenty good enough for me. As for the title of my post, looks like Johan Santana pitched a gem of a game* and the Mets won 6 to 1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Good way to start a Saturday.
* 7 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 4 strike outs, 1 base on balls (7 IP, 5H, 1ER, 4SO, 1BB).
* 7 innings pitched, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 4 strike outs, 1 base on balls (7 IP, 5H, 1ER, 4SO, 1BB).
Friday, July 23, 2010
On Mefloquine, Vivid Dreams, and Guitar Amps
Before leaving for Kenya, I started taking Mefloquine to help stave off malaria.* One of the side effects of Mefloquine is the occasional vivid dream. Since being on the malaria medicine, I have found this to be true. Ususally the dreams are filled with excitement and intrigue, my own personal "Michael Bay" feature film. No nightmares or terrors, only action and adventure.
I've hoped for vivid fun dreams, like being in center field (okay playing 2nd base) for the New York Mets, or playing music on stage in front of thousands of fans. But I've not really been able to control these things and properly write, produce and direct the adventure playing out inside my head.
Creature Comforts
I brought one of my electric guitars with me to Kenya. It is a creature comfort and a luxury. I did not however have room for an amp, even a small one. So, I play with a small amp simulator, it works okay, but not as good. I should say that I really love tube guitar amps and that it is too difficult on my ears to play through most solid state amps, even those with amp modeling circuits. Rather than compromise, I opted not to bring anything this time. That and the amp I wanted to bring does not come with a switching power supply to allow it to work in places that use 220V. I really did not relish the idea of packing a voltage transformer to accommodate my desire to add to the noise pollution in Eldoret. Alas the amp will have to wait.*
*My current strategy is to get over to London and pick up what I want** (unless I am lucky enough to find an amp in Nairobi).
** I really want the Bugera V5. A small 5 watt tube amplifier. I really like the tone that this thing produces when connected to my fender stratocaster.
These two seemingly unrelated things came to a "vivid" convergence early this morning. I dreamed about shopping for and buying a new amp. In technicolor and THX sound no less. This is a vivid dream that I can really replay night after night! It is amazing how the mind (under the influence of malaria drugs) can really produce great tone and make me sound as good as the late-great Stevie Ray Vaughan. I think it is time to start shopping for something to plug my guitar into.
* Last time I visited Kenya, I took Malarone, but I was only staying for a few days. The current costs per dose of malarone pushed me to try Mefloquine.
I've hoped for vivid fun dreams, like being in center field (okay playing 2nd base) for the New York Mets, or playing music on stage in front of thousands of fans. But I've not really been able to control these things and properly write, produce and direct the adventure playing out inside my head.
Creature Comforts
I brought one of my electric guitars with me to Kenya. It is a creature comfort and a luxury. I did not however have room for an amp, even a small one. So, I play with a small amp simulator, it works okay, but not as good. I should say that I really love tube guitar amps and that it is too difficult on my ears to play through most solid state amps, even those with amp modeling circuits. Rather than compromise, I opted not to bring anything this time. That and the amp I wanted to bring does not come with a switching power supply to allow it to work in places that use 220V. I really did not relish the idea of packing a voltage transformer to accommodate my desire to add to the noise pollution in Eldoret. Alas the amp will have to wait.*
*My current strategy is to get over to London and pick up what I want** (unless I am lucky enough to find an amp in Nairobi).
** I really want the Bugera V5. A small 5 watt tube amplifier. I really like the tone that this thing produces when connected to my fender stratocaster.
These two seemingly unrelated things came to a "vivid" convergence early this morning. I dreamed about shopping for and buying a new amp. In technicolor and THX sound no less. This is a vivid dream that I can really replay night after night! It is amazing how the mind (under the influence of malaria drugs) can really produce great tone and make me sound as good as the late-great Stevie Ray Vaughan. I think it is time to start shopping for something to plug my guitar into.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Dirty Hands and the Day's Events
Well, I got my hands dirty today. A couple days ago, I did not expect it to happen. Of course, the way I got my hands dirty was not quite what I had in mind. For my first three days at work, I have been taking up a corner of a colleagues desk. Not he most optimal setup, since part of his desk also hosts a printer. They found me some space and a spare desk in an office that was not set up to fully optimize the space. So today along with some help, I re-arranged an office.* And now I have a workspace, a nice chair and even managed to improve the office a bit with some self-stick hooks on a door to hold our coats.
* So it is not racking a server, but it was a nice diversion. And who says racking servers is all that great anyway.
I don't need much, just a place where I can do some work. Speaking of work, I am beginning to understand some things here. The organization structure is more clear to me, the roles that people play with in the structure. I am also beginning to identify some components of what will become the Informatics Services Core (ISC) strategic plan.* Yes, yes, there is still much more work to be done. I need to really get a handle on the myriad of projects underway, queued up in the pipeline and on the drawing board; come up with a change/release management policy and well there is much more.
* I've finally settled on ISC. No more changes, unless I get push back from those above me.
All in all, it was a good day.
* So it is not racking a server, but it was a nice diversion. And who says racking servers is all that great anyway.
I don't need much, just a place where I can do some work. Speaking of work, I am beginning to understand some things here. The organization structure is more clear to me, the roles that people play with in the structure. I am also beginning to identify some components of what will become the Informatics Services Core (ISC) strategic plan.* Yes, yes, there is still much more work to be done. I need to really get a handle on the myriad of projects underway, queued up in the pipeline and on the drawing board; come up with a change/release management policy and well there is much more.
* I've finally settled on ISC. No more changes, unless I get push back from those above me.
All in all, it was a good day.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Traveling with the iPad
I really love my iPad, it is really a great device and has saved my back and shoulders a lot of strain on the trip from the US to Eldoret.
Total travel time from New York to Nairobi was about 18 hours (including layovers). Between sleeping and eating, I was constantly engaged with the iPad. Reading books, watching movies, playing games and listening to music. The reported battery life is 10 hours and I am pretty sure I exceeded that amount of time.
In the past, I would have to lug my books, computer and in the time before mp3s, I would also drag along a set of CDs and a portable player. Not to mention a camera, lenses and who knows what else. On this flight out, I just toted my camera, laptop and iPad and I never touched my laptop.
One regret is that I did not sync up my newspaper apps before getting on the plane.* Would have been cool to catch up on things during the flight.
* Gotta rant** about the current state of magazine subscription prices for the iPad. $4.99 for an issue? How in the world does SI, Wired and other magazines justify that kind of pricing? No paper, no mail costs, no real printing costs. Where is the subscription price? Make the pricing reasonable, give me a 12 month subscription and I will gladly sign on.
** Another rant, though it doesn't really affect me now. Why does MLB.tv have black out restrictions on their games? Is it out of fear of lost local TV ad revenues? Fine, then just air the actual local TV feed (block the away feed) with commercials for those in the local market, now the local station won't lose out on any potential ad revenues. Or is it more complicated than that?
One additional regret, I wish I had purchased the 3G version. Would have been cool to try it out on the Safaricom network (the main local telecom company). Version 2 of the iPad should be out sometime next year, I will upgrade then.
Total travel time from New York to Nairobi was about 18 hours (including layovers). Between sleeping and eating, I was constantly engaged with the iPad. Reading books, watching movies, playing games and listening to music. The reported battery life is 10 hours and I am pretty sure I exceeded that amount of time.
In the past, I would have to lug my books, computer and in the time before mp3s, I would also drag along a set of CDs and a portable player. Not to mention a camera, lenses and who knows what else. On this flight out, I just toted my camera, laptop and iPad and I never touched my laptop.
One regret is that I did not sync up my newspaper apps before getting on the plane.* Would have been cool to catch up on things during the flight.
* Gotta rant** about the current state of magazine subscription prices for the iPad. $4.99 for an issue? How in the world does SI, Wired and other magazines justify that kind of pricing? No paper, no mail costs, no real printing costs. Where is the subscription price? Make the pricing reasonable, give me a 12 month subscription and I will gladly sign on.
** Another rant, though it doesn't really affect me now. Why does MLB.tv have black out restrictions on their games? Is it out of fear of lost local TV ad revenues? Fine, then just air the actual local TV feed (block the away feed) with commercials for those in the local market, now the local station won't lose out on any potential ad revenues. Or is it more complicated than that?
One additional regret, I wish I had purchased the 3G version. Would have been cool to try it out on the Safaricom network (the main local telecom company). Version 2 of the iPad should be out sometime next year, I will upgrade then.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Strategic Planning: Preliminaries
I'm here to help develop the Informatics Services Core (ISC)* for the AMPATH project. I should say from the outset that the guys here are doing a pretty good job. I can sort of see how I will fit in and how to best support their efforts.
This week and probably over the next couple will be my educational period, I am and will be getting exposed to various elements of AMPATH as well as getting a full understanding of scope of the Informatics work. All this information will go into building a strategic plan that will serve as an initial guide for the future of the ISC.
I want the plan to accurately reflect the current state of things and capture the future direction that AMPATH is taking (moving towards primary care delivery). These things are pretty straight-forward. The plan will also make some recommendations and set forth a roadmap for the next two to five years. I understand that things change and so the roadmap should not be seen as set in concrete.
The strategic plan is just the first part and really as I think about it, a small part of what is really going to happen. There are a large number of changes that will be coming soon after this plan is accepted and this is when the real work will begin.*
* When I decided on taking this job, I did so because I thought I would still have the opportunity to get my hands dirty doing some traditional 'techie' work. As I sit here tonight, I'm not sure if I'll have the opportunity to do any such 'techie' work. Maybe I'll be able to set up a home network.
We started today just white boarding the work that is being done at the AMPATH center in Eldoret and by the end of the exercise, the white board was pretty crowed. We still need to do something similar for the outlying centers and clinics. Like yesterday, there is a lot of information to take in, organize and make sense of. The team needs to keep teaching me and I need to keep focused and learning.*
* I like writing notes in quad ruled composition books. They're the right size for this sort of thing and the quad rule pages make it easy for the talentless artist in me to sketch out diagrams. Sadly, I never got the chance to get to the university bookstore to pick up a bunch of these books before leaving the US. I need to hunt for them around Eldoret.
I think before too long, I'm going to need to get away for a day or to just to sort everything out and be in a position to take the next steps.
* I am playing with various names for the group. Information Services, Informatics Core, Informatics Services Core. I'll figure this one out before too long and then things will be consistent going forward. It is my second day, so go easy on me.
This week and probably over the next couple will be my educational period, I am and will be getting exposed to various elements of AMPATH as well as getting a full understanding of scope of the Informatics work. All this information will go into building a strategic plan that will serve as an initial guide for the future of the ISC.
I want the plan to accurately reflect the current state of things and capture the future direction that AMPATH is taking (moving towards primary care delivery). These things are pretty straight-forward. The plan will also make some recommendations and set forth a roadmap for the next two to five years. I understand that things change and so the roadmap should not be seen as set in concrete.
The strategic plan is just the first part and really as I think about it, a small part of what is really going to happen. There are a large number of changes that will be coming soon after this plan is accepted and this is when the real work will begin.*
* When I decided on taking this job, I did so because I thought I would still have the opportunity to get my hands dirty doing some traditional 'techie' work. As I sit here tonight, I'm not sure if I'll have the opportunity to do any such 'techie' work. Maybe I'll be able to set up a home network.
We started today just white boarding the work that is being done at the AMPATH center in Eldoret and by the end of the exercise, the white board was pretty crowed. We still need to do something similar for the outlying centers and clinics. Like yesterday, there is a lot of information to take in, organize and make sense of. The team needs to keep teaching me and I need to keep focused and learning.*
* I like writing notes in quad ruled composition books. They're the right size for this sort of thing and the quad rule pages make it easy for the talentless artist in me to sketch out diagrams. Sadly, I never got the chance to get to the university bookstore to pick up a bunch of these books before leaving the US. I need to hunt for them around Eldoret.
I think before too long, I'm going to need to get away for a day or to just to sort everything out and be in a position to take the next steps.
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